The 76th Hunger Games
by mount-justice-Is-my-home
Summary: Katniss never won the 74th Hunger Games, which means the rebellion was never initiated. So when a young Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon are brought into the Capitols death games, their whole world is flipped upside down. Dick Grayson starts falling for a certain red head from another district, while Babs... is just trying to stay alive. Eventual KF/Rob, Supermartian. AU
1. The Reaping

**A/N: I own nothing**

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"All right everyone, let's begin this year's reaping for our 76th annual Hunger Games" Diana Lance announced. Diana was our Escort for District 2, and more fortunately than not, I was born and raised in this district; even if we had to go through the same reaping every year. Contrary to popular belief, most of the people I knew in this district were scared shitless to go into the games. Only the bravest of us would ever volunteer.

_Another year will hopefully go by without her calling out my name. I just pray that none of my friend's names are called either. If they are, there is not much that I could do, because I would defiantly not be volunteering myself to go into that death-trap that they have so much fun watching. What gives those people at the Capitol the right to kill us off like we are their entertainment, ever given the chance; I would kill President Snow right on the spot!_

"Ladies first" Diana said with that same overenthusiastic capitol accent. This of course snapped me back into reality because her voice, a person could only take so much of before they wanted to rip her head off.

Diana had long golden blonde hair that went down to her shoulder blades. She wore the same black choker necklace around her throat every year. As for her other clothes; she wore a jacket that everyone knew that she was only wearing to show off her gigantic boobs that were hanging out of her one piece clothing that showed off her legs all the way up until part of her butt-cheek was showing. This of course all being black, even her fish-net stockings matched her black-as-night finger nails. Everyone in my district called her 'Black Canary.' One reason being because ,well, she wore all black that went with her sparkling blue eyes perfectly and also because when she talked, it reminded everyone of the voice of a canary; I could never see it.

She reached into the large bowl of small paper tesserae's that contained all the names of every single female in my district.

"_NOT BARBRA, NOT BARBRA, NOT BARBRA, NOT BARBRA. Anyone other girl, but please don't rip Barbra away from me. You've already ripped Cassie and Jason away, I need Barbra, don't say her name Diana" _I mentally chant to myself.

"Barbra Gordon" I hear Diana say with a smile plastered on her face.

Suddenly an average height red-headed girl walks up onto the stage and I can see the fear and shock written all over her face. She is wearing her best clothes and I can tell. She has on a white button down shirt with a blue plaid skirt, while wearing blue knee-socks with her best black shoes. All and all she looked stunning, really, but she was one of my best friends; and I never saw her as anything but a friend.

I never really started taking any interest in girls; I remained aloof per say, unlike my best friend Roy Harper. Even though he had quite the temper, he was a bit of a man-whore when it came to women. People around my academy said that at every party they held he would always do the nastiest things to the known whores of our career academy. No one really understood Roy the way that I did. People just thought that he liked to hump-and-dump, but really this was all just his defense mechanism; his way to cope with grief of losing his father, Oliver Queen in an avalanche at the main rock quarry in our District. Oliver took Roy Harper in at a young age because his parents acted against the Capitol, spoke out against them. Unfortunately for them, someone was around to hear them rant, and they were immediately turned into the peacekeepers, and then they were shipped off to the capitol. Probably to become avoxes, or even worse; they were killed.

Luckily for Roy, he was 17 when Oliver died, and he could shoot a bow and arrow like no one I have ever seen before. This meaning that he could fend and take care of himself, not needing anyone to give him hand-outs, like my adoptive father, Bruce Wayne.

Luckily for me, Bruce never did anything that was too dangerous, not dangerous at all to be exact. He was one of the richest people in our district, and he inherited it all from his parent's weapons manufacturing business, and now he never had to work, he had people that did that for him, but he worked anyway, it gave him something to do while I was at the academy. He took me in after my parents were killed in an accident with the peace keepers. Now my name is Dick John Grayson-Wayne.

"_NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOO! This is not right, why is it that all my family, friends, and the people I love are always brutally ripped away from me and killed because of the god-damned Capitol?" _I yell at myself.

"Does anyone want to volunteer for this beautiful, brave, young woman?" Diana asked, her black lipstick shining in the mid-day sun.

"_Surely there must be someone who wants to volunteer for Babs; I mean I see plenty of well-trained 18 year olds that would be perfect applicants. Maybe that 6 foot girl sitting over there, isn't she like the best axe thrower in the whole district? I heard that she never misses a target with them plus she is really mean and hateful, so why doesn't she just volunteer for her? She is perfectly capable to do it."_ I think to myself.

"Alright no takers I see, well congratulations Miss Barbara Gordon, for being District Two's Female tribute in the 76th Annual Hunger Games." Diana said with enthusiasm and excitement evident in her voice. A heavy sigh of relief runs rampant like a virus throughout the female section, and I am seething with anger and sadness.

"NOOO!" I yell out loudly as though no one would be able to hear me if I said it any quieter. I run out to try to stop everything that is going on but I know that this is futile. I am struggling to make my way to the stage, wanting to get to Barbra at all costs. Pushing and shoving through people, knocking boys younger than myself over on the ground. Tears streaming down my face, all I wanted was to get to my sister, the girl that I loved like one away from the certain doom that I know she was going to face.

"Restrain him" Diana said with a shocked expression on her face.

Suddenly two peacekeepers are right beside me dragging me back to the 14 year old category. I struggle in their grasp, not caring that this was going to go public to the whole nation of Panem; all I wanted was my Barbra. "LET ME GO, NO BARBARA YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME TOO! YOU, ROY AND BRUCE ARE ALL I HAVE LEFT!" I shout to the high-heavens, but to no avail, nothing is going to change and I know it, they know it, she knows it, everyone knows it.

Once I'm brought back to the area I was sitting at, they stay there beside me, not wanting any more outbursts by me.

"Well that was very…. exiting to say the least." Diana said with half laden smile, that I can totally tell is false. "Moving on, to the males." She said reaching into the large bowl of tesserae's with all the boy's from my districts name on every single small sheet of white paper.

She pulled one out of the small sheets of paper and I could visually see all the boys and men who were in my district hold their breaths and freeze, unable to even move for fear that if they did their name would be called.

_I'm not even worried anymore, it's not like this day could get much worse than it is. Barbara is already gone, not much to live for anymore._

"And the male tribute from District 2 is…." She delicately unfolded the small sheet of paper to revel who the next boy to be shipped off the Hunger Games was going to be.

She slowly read the name as if to taunt everyone in the entire known world who the male tribute would be.

"Richard Grayson." She exclaimed with a smile on her face into the microphone. My heart stopped, the world stood still, my eyes widened not believing what I was hearing.

_Did, she just say my name? Me? Out of the thousands of boys in the entire district, me? _

I walk up on to the stage to take the hand of Diana, and stand beside Babs, mortified of what is to happen to me.

"_This is it; this is the last time I am ever going to see my home again because I will not kill Babs, never, not even in the question. That's not even in the equation. I mean sure, no one can throw knives or handle a spear like I can, I hate that I have these skills and I hope that I will never have to use them. OH MY GOD THIS IS NOT HAPPENING" _I tell myself.

"Do we have any volunteers for Mr. Richard?" she asks the crowd of boys and girls below me, and in all honesty, I didn't want anyone to volunteer for me, I had to keep Babs safe.

"No takers then?" she makes the obvious statement. In the corner of my eye, I can see Roy start to walk up, and I direct my gaze towards him and glare the best I can. He seems to get the memo because he walks back to his seat.

"Well ladies and gentlemen; meet our two brave tributes that represent District 2 in the 76th Annual Hunger Games. Mister Richard Grayson and Miss Barbra Gordon. Happy Hunger Games and May the odds be ever in your favor." She exclaims to the crowd below her.

"_Yeah right, because the odds were way in my favor today" _I think sarcastically.

After saying our good-byes to everyone that I cared for at home, which was basically Bruce and Roy, Diana escorts Barbra and I to the train that we would be transported to the Capitol on.

"Today is the day that you will get to meet your mentors, Clove and Brutus, isn't that just exiting!" She shrieks with glee and I can see the blank face of Barbra that showed that she was not impressed. I smirk to myself because Babs hates people like this, over-excited about every single detail in their lives. So basically Babs hated overly optimistic people, and I can defiantly see where she is coming from.

Diana takes us to the train and loads us on. When I enter the train, I am flabbergasted by its sophistication and grandeur. Priceless paintings and red leather furniture where everywhere, glass tables placed near golden chairs that brought the whole cart together. A diamond chandelier hung over top of the 70 inch platinum television that was surrounded by ruby studded armchairs and a loveseat. To say that this train was amazing was an understatement, by far an understatement.

"Isn't it amazing, this is only a taste of what it is like back at home. But you guys will be seeing that later, right now however it is time to meet your mentors." Diana said pulling us away from the awestricking common room on the train.

When Barbra and I reached our mentors, Clove and Brutus, I was impressed. Clove only seemed to be about two years older than me and one year older than Barbra, While Brutus was really terrifying, to say the least.

"Hey weren't you the one that cut off Katniss Everdeen's lips two years ago?" Barbra asks Clove with a slight hesitation in her voice; to me it seemed that she was kind of afraid of 16 year old victor.

"Yes that was me, and then I slit her throat if I remember correctly." She gave Babs a soft smile that let her know that Clove was only a threat if she was angry, upset, or she was in the arena again. I could visually see Barbara relax a bit, but she was still on her guard.

"Weren't you also the one that changed the rules of the games too, allowing two victors to win instead of the normal one?" I asked her with my head tilted slightly to the side. I remember watching that Hunger Games, everyone was so focused on 'the-girl-on-fire' that when she died people didn't know what to do, so they made Snow change the rules, too let two tributes win instead of one. Cato and Clove were the victors at that years games if recall. Truthfully I wanted the girl from District 5 to win because I liked her strategy; tactical, witty, and overall sly and elusive, which is a lot like my personality and how I would handle the games, but she ate the berries and died…. So I started pulling for the home team.

"Well two tributes can win, if they are district partners, otherwise it is back to the old rules." Clove said with a warm smile on her face.

_I never imagined that one of the most ruthless killers in the entire history of the Hunger Games would be this sweet and gentle towards us. So I guess it was all an act, the performance that she put up in her games. I kind of admire that about her make all the other tributes hate you but they know that if they confront you, they will be dead. I love it, really. _

"Hey you, Shorty!" I hear a booming voice call for me. It was Brutus, our other mentor he was as scary as he was large, which was pretty scary if you get what I mean. He towered over me at a terrifying 6 feet 5 inches. I was only 5 feet 2 inches but that was because I am a late bloomer and I only just started puberty. "Yes sir." I squeak, because I was honestly scared shitless and this dude was very intimidating.

"Show me what you can do!" He barks at me and I jump a little bit. "Rig-Right now?" I choke out not knowing what else to say. "YES RIGHT NOW WHAT ELSE DID YOU THINK I MENT YOU RETARTED EXCUSE FOR A BOY!" he shouted at me and I started backing up into the wall. "But there are all kinds of breakable things in here; I really don't want to break anything….sir." I say to him.

Suddenly he takes a large bottle of expensive looking wine and smashes it on the granite countertop, dropping its red liquid onto the white carpet. "I DON'T FUCKING CARE WHAT THE HELL IS IN HERE THAT'S NOT WHAT I ASKED YOU BOY, I SAID SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!" He shouts violently at me, and then turns to Barbra grabbing her by the arm. "Fine, if you don't want to show me what you can do, then baby cakes here is going to need a medic." He gives me a sadistic smirk and I can tell that his performance in the games was no ruse. Everything that he did to the other tributes in the games was truly his personality. If I can remember correctly, Brutus got his district partner, Lilandra, to trust him at all costs. After doing this he raped and killed the poor girl and ran off winning the games. This guy is touching Babs, cutting her with the bottle while she just sits there and takes it. Clove is on the wall scared no doubt, because she does not have any knives on her and she is powerless against the giant man.

"Get. Off. Of. Her." I say to Brutus calmly anger and rage apparent because I could feel my face was scarlet with fury. "Why, what are you going to do about it short stuff. Call mommy and daddy for help?"

"I SAID GET OFF OF HER YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING DOUCHEBAG!" I suddenly find the courage to yell at him and then I tackle him sliding chairs and knocking bottles and books to the floor. I pin him to the ground with a knife to his throat. "Didn't expect that did you big man, you're all bark and no bite I don't even see how you won the 63rd Hunger Games, other than cheating your way to the top and then raping that poor girl. You're a pathetic, angry man that needs to sort out his priorities, you got that fuck face!" He pushes me off of him, but I swing onto his back and slit his throat ending the evil man from ever rapping another tribute again.

Brutus' body fell to the floor with a loud thump, blood oozing from his neck and throat as he struggled to breathe. Clove look surprised, as well as shocked, Babs on the other hand was sitting in the corner in the fetal position. "You okay?" I ask Babs extending my arm to help her off the ground. She regains her composure and takes my hand as I help her up. "He's dead, I can't hurt you anymore. I made sure of that." I say with a smirk on my face. "Thanks Dick." She says with tears in her eyes and attacks me with a bone crushing hug.

"Good heavens, what on Earth happened in here?" Diana asked with a mixture of shock, anger, and disbelief on her heavily makeuped face. "Well someone is going to have to clean this up and it is not going to be me, Sean could you come in here please?" Shortly after Diana asked, a man about five and a half feet walks into the room, his hair is dyed red and so are is eyebrows. He is wearing red lipstick and red clothing, and then it hits me….. he is an avox. Sean sweeps up the broken glass and moves the chairs and books back to their original places. After a hard fought battle with the carpet in trying to remove the wine that Brutus had spilt, he finally left the room without a word. Some peacekeepers come into the car and take Brutus' body away.

_Where were you guys when me and Barbra were being attacked? Thanks for all your help. _I say to myself with an angry, blank expression on my face.

"So do you guys know each other?" I hear a voice ask me and Barbra. I look over to find that voice belonged to Clove. "Yeah me and Dikie here go way back." Barbra answered the girl with a warm smile stuck on her face, I can tell that she has returned back to her normal bubbly self and I couldn't be happier; even if I did just make my first kill. "Babs, I told you not to call me that anymore." I complain to her, but she just giggles and shrugs it off. I give a smirk myself and then turn my attention back to Clove.

"Well I can tell you guys that is going to make forming the career alliance much easier for you two, it always helps when you have someone you know inside the games with you. For me it was Cato, and he always protected me, he made Brutus keep his distance. Not that I needed it obliviously. He was a bit overprotective though, didn't want his girlfriend to get killed out there. That reminds me, are you too dating?" Clove asked innocently. "Ewwwww gross no, me and Dick are just friends. He is like my brother, I would never date him." Barbra answers while coming over to give me a kiss on the cheek making me blush like a mad man. "I don't know Babs, all the mixed signals you are sending me is making me think that there is why more between us than just friendship." I sniggered at the thought and smirked at my little joke because there was defiantly nothing between Barbra and me, nothing romantic at least.

"Well if you guys need anything I will be two carts over, so just ring that bell, and by the way it's getting kinda late and you guys do have to make the 'big impression' tomorrow for the people at the Capitol." Clove says to Barbra and me with all knowing eyes. "Plus I don't think that Brutus is going to be any help in mentoring you guys, after that stunt you pulled, he isn't going to be any help because he is dead." She says with a soft and warm smile on her lips. I can tell by that, Clove didn't like Brutus, all though, not many people did.

"Guys I'm going to bed, it's been a long day and I need my sleep." Barbra said to Clove and I. "Yeah Babs you defiantly do not have a quota on beauty sleep. You need to take all that you can get." I start to cackle at my own joke causing Barbra to throw on of the super expensive silk pillows at my face. "Shut up you asshole." Barbra acts offended and walks to her sleeping quarters, but before she can get there I yell to her. "The truth hurts doesn't it ugly!" After yelling this I get to my room to find a king-sized bed inside a lavish room that was painted a dark blue. Over top of the bed was another diamond chandelier that tied the whole room together. On top of the dresser, I find a gold plated plasma screen television about 34 inches wide. This was nothing like my room back at home.

Once I finally lay down on the silk sheets I was out like a light due to my tiredness.

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**A/N: This popped into my head a long time ago while I was reading the Hunger Games, I hope that you guys like it and I am sorry for any mistakes with grammar and spelling. The only beta I had was my sister, so please enjoy and review if you like it!**


	2. Alfred

**Disclaimer: I own none of these Characters**

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Chapter 2

Alfred

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When I wake up the next morning I realize that I am not in my usual bed back in District 2. I am on the train, heading towards the Capitol to fight in the bloodiest fight known to man, the Hunger Games. I hop out of the king sized bed and put on a dark blue shirt that a 2 on the sleeve showing that I was , in fact from District 2, and proving that all of this was real.

I leave my new room and head to the dining car to go and get some breakfast. The last time I had eaten I was with Roy and we were at my house discussing who we thought would be reaped and who would be killed quickest in the games.

"I trust you slept well?" Clove said to me with a warm smile on her lips. I had already reached the dining car and I didn't realize it until Clove said anything.

_Man how fast was I walking? Oh well at least I'm… OH MY GOD I'VE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH FOOD IN MY LIFE. _ I tell myself, my eyes widening at the vast amount of food that was provided for the two tributes of District 2. There was a large amount of bread stacked high with pancakes, waffles, bacon, and sausages at least two feet off the table looking as though it was going to fall over.

"Yeah man, that was the best sleep that I have ever gotten. Are all the beds like that in the Capitol?" I turn to ask Diana, our escort for District 2. She was wearing, once again, all black with the jacket that made her boobs pop out of her shirt. At least this time she had the decency to wear skin-tight leggings that revealed how muscular she really was, for a Capitol citizen anyway.

"The beds on this train are the worst, back at home I immediately fall right to sleep, and here I stayed awake for almost two hours, my eyes wide open. So no I don't think so." Diana said with a wide smile on her face.

I give her a nod saying that I understood what she was saying and turned to Babs. She had the same shirt on as me except hers was pink instead of blue, I guess to let people know that she was the female tribute, if it weren't obvious enough with her long red hair and well developed body that any guy would be lucky to get and any girl would be lucky to have.

"How did you sleep Babs, obviously not enough considering the fact you still look ugly." I smirk at her remembering our conversation last night before we went to bed.

"Are we really still on that, Dick?" Babs asks me with a slight frown on her face. "You're going to be first on my list of people to kill Dickie, just you wait." She says smirking at me and I laugh, a real, true laugh, for the first time since before the reaping. She turns to Clove to ask her a question.

"So, Clove, how exactly do we win these games? What did you do? Explain to us." Barbara said to Clove demanding answers.

"Ok, well when I was in the arena, I acted like a vicious, conniving, and ruthless killer that would do anything to win, even though that is like the exact opposite of who I really am. For example; when Katniss Everdeen put the tracker jackers down on us, everyone started to panic and scream. Cato, Marvel and I ran to the lake that the Gamesmakers had made. But before I started running away I noticed Glimmer, the girl from District, 1 just standing up. I ran over to her and pushed her down, she couldn't regain her composure and get leverage on the ground. She died because of all the stings that she got, looking back at her she was a swollen mess, and it was all my fault. She looked nothing like a beautiful girl that I allowed into my alliance, she was disgusting. It gave me nightmares for weeks, but I never told anyone till today. Point is that you have to do whatever it takes to win these games. They are not something to screw around with. Another example for you two, when the boy from District 11 ripped me off of the Everdeen girl, he underestimated how strong that I actually was, he had me by the throat, but I flip-kicked him and broke his jaw, he released me immediately and I stabbed him in his head, heart, and lungs; he died instantly. Then I killed the Everdeen girl by slicing her throat. All while nature took care of her boyfriend." Clove stated with a blank face. I could tell talking about something like this made her feel somewhat ashamed of herself.

Clove shook off all the harsh feelings for herself, and turned her attention back on to us instead of staring blankly into space.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you two, you're going to see things that you never wished you had, do things that you wish you hadn't. The games will change you if you let them, so don't let them. You're going to kill people so you need to get over that now….. Although your boy over here seems to already have gotten past that." She says to Barbara and looks where Brutus was killed, all while smirking.

I stare into her eyes to find that she has been through a lot of trauma in the past two years.

"What you've been through, and I'm not talking about the games…. How are you always so happy and smiley all the time?" I ask her trying to avoid any awkward territory, but I was failing miserably.

"It may seem that way to you, but I actually tried to kill myself last year because of all the nightmares I had of the games. I tried to hang myself with a scarf that my mother gave me for winning; it seemed appropriate to kill myself like that. If it were not for Cato, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you guys. Every night I cry over the visions I see, you see I have the record for the most kills ever gotten by a single person, 14 people I killed, that's more than half! Last night I cried longer than I have in a long time….. This is the longest I have been without Cato since before my games." She says to us, tears rolling down her face.

"Excuse me one moment….." She runs out of the dining car at a rapid pace knocking things in her way over. Books and magazines lie on the floor waiting for someone to pick them up, but that girl wasn't coming back for a while.

I look at Babs and she looks at me, both of us were really concerned for the 16 year old girl. Just by looking at her, you could assume that she was a very happy girl that was hardly affected by the Capitol's Hunger Games. But on the inside, she was positively traumatized. One might say that the victor was losing her mind due to her grief. She needed help, but no one but Cato was there to give it to her.

"WE ARE HERE!" Diana shouted out loudly. I jumped at her voice, because it really did shock me out of my thoughts.

Babs and I rush over to the window to see massive buildings, four times the size of the buildings back at home, if not even taller. I look around to see every color on the rainbow and even some colors I had never seen before. Red, yellow, blue, and many more colored buildings shined in the early morning sun. The cameras did not do the Capitol justice, it was a pristine utopia. Once we reached the inside of the gates we started to see people, they matched the buildings with the clothes that they wore and the colors that their skin colors were. They were chanting at us, yelling our names out in the sky. I start to wave at them, while Babs starts to blow kisses. I turn to look at her, questioning what she was doing.

"Well they want a show; I suggest we give them one. You heard what Clove said, we can't let the games change us, and the way to avoid that is by putting up a fake personality for them, like Clove did in her games." She said to me.

"I'm just going to stick to being myself, I don't want to end up like her" I say to Babs and point in the direction that she ran.

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Once the train was stopped, we go and find Clove who is in her bathroom balling her eyes out. After comforting the 16 year old victor, we leave the train and follow Diana to a large Capitol building that was made of glass. It rose up higher than any building I have actually seen in person.

"Today you two will be meeting your stylists, and might I say, Iris and Alfred are the best of the best, you guys are going to show the other districts who is boss …..It's us by the way, District 2, the masonry district!" Diana exclaimed while jumping up and down clapping to us while we walked down a long hallway that was lined with precious gems that glimmered off of the beautiful mid-morning sun.

After walking down the long, pristine corridor, Diana took us to a large room with flags hanging off the wall. Each of these flags had different numbers on them, each number representing one of the districts inside of Panem.

"Richard, your stylist will be Alfred. He is a little advanced in age, but he certainly knows what he is doing and he is a sweetheart so there should be no problem. And for you Barbara, Iris is going to be your stylist. She is new to our prep team, just joining this year, so if you could please try to be on your best behavior, both of you, and remember; manners!" Diana said with a wide smile plastered on her face. She took both of our hands and led us to our prep teams.

"Well Dick, I guess this is where we part." Babs said to me with a grin on her face. "Oh and Dickie before I forget, try not to kill anyone this time. I don't want to have to call in more peacekeepers to take the bodies away." She said with a smirk on her face.

"I will truly try Babs, but I'm not going to make any promises. People tend to really piss me off and killing them is the only way to shut them up." I said to her, we both pause and start to laugh until our faces are crimson.

"Children!" Diana boomed. "What did I tell you, MANNERS! This is no way to attract sponsors and you need sponsors in order to win the games so get it together!" Diana yells at us, but we are not listening to her. We are having way too much fun at her expense.

Once Babs and I part ways I was taken in the direction of the blue flag with a number 2 on it, while Babs was taken to the side where the pick flag with the 2 lie.

"So you guys must be my prep team, please you guys, you can do anything you want to me; just don't mess up my face. I need it." I was going to be honest with these people, I am a very tolerant person when it comes to things like this, which included pain and changing my body, but if they did anything to me that I even suspected would keep me looking like one of those Capitol freaks. I would be rolling some heads.

"Oh of course not mister Richard, we would never do anything to alter your face, but we do have to fix you up a little bit before we send you to your head stylist, Alfred. But touching your face will only be consisting of plucking and waxing unwanted hairs off of your body; your eyebrows for instance." The large woman in front of me said with a smile on her lips. I could see the determination in her eyes, this woman knew what she was doing, and nothing that I could ever do would stop her, in all honesty it scared me a little. This woman was tough as nails. She wore a large bow on the top of head; the ribbon black with the actual bow part being red as a ruby. Her dress was a very deep blue; one might even compare it to the sky due to its depth. The shoulders of her dress puffed out about 3 feet making it very hard to see her face from the side. The dress itself went all the way down to the ground and even farther. I almost stepped on it four times walking over to where I am now. Her shoes I only got a glance at, but to me her heels were about ten inches off the ground, blowing my mind.

"_How can anyone walk in those things, you could literally fall and break your neck if you aren't careful of where you step. I will never understand Capitol fashion. Ever."_ I think to myself.

"So if you could just remove your clothing, we can begin the re-construction process and have you ready for your big impression to the world, after of course we send you to Alfred." Another woman behind her said out loud, I couldn't see her due to the large shoulder plates that the large woman had on her dress.

I go to the nearest bathroom and strip off my blue t-shirt with the 2 on its sleeve, I had been wearing that since I woke up and not even realized it. After I remove my shirt, I take off my pants and fold them neatly beside my shirt.

"_My underwear too? I am just going to leave them on, who knows some of these people could be perverts. I'm not taking them off."_

I walk back over to where my prep team was. They were gathered around a bench that I assumed I was going to be lying on as they altered and changed my body. Once I reach them they greet me with smiles at first, but once they notice that I had left my underwear on, their smiles dropped.

"Excuse me but we asked you to remove all of your clothing, you seem to have forgotten something." The woman said pointing to my remaining underwear. The large woman is again in the front speaking to me in a challenging tone. It seemed as though she wanted me to deny this request, but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction; but I wasn't taking my underwear off either.

"I don't see why I have to take these off. What do you need under here anyways? It's not like anyone is going be looking down below my waist. I'm not taking them off." I told the woman bluntly. I could see her seething with rage until she finally said something.

"Fine you can keep the undergarments on, we shall work around them." She said to me with her eyebrows dented forming the most unattractive face I have ever had the displeasure of setting my eyes on. Her pale skin mushed together like marshmallows in a tight bag. Throughout all the years of plastic surgery, this woman's face looked like loose skin was hanging off every single bone in her face. It was awful, even when she did return her face back to what would be called 'normal.'

I lie down on the hard solid piece of steel and wait for them to begin waxing, plucking, and tearing me apart.

"Ok this may sting a little but it will only hurt for a second." A short man said to me holding a white paper with hot wax on it. This guy looked fairly normal in my opinion, well compared the 'monstrosity' I dubbed the large woman that first talked to me, with the large shoulder plates. He wore a silk suit that was a bright orange with a bright blue bowtie around his neck. As for his face, he had a lot of make-up that reflected a lot of the bright artificial light that they were shinning in my face.

"HOLY FUCK, YOU SAID IT WOULD ONLY HURT FOR A SECOND! YOU LYING BASTARD!" I scream out as the man swiftly removed the paper with wax reveling a large patch of hair that he removed from my leg.

"Terribly sorry sir. Usually it is the boy who have a harder time with the legs, seeing that they have more leg hair than the females do." The skinny man told me as he started getting more wax ready.

* * *

After hours of excruciating pain coming from my legs, arms, hands, and eyebrows, the prep team was finally finished with me and my sculpted body. Years of practice and hard work in the career academies back in District 2, my body was at physical perfection. I felt around my arms and noticed that there was absolutely no hair left on them, I look down to my thighs and calves and there was no hair to be found.

"You can search all you want, there is not a single hair left on your body other than your head. You are now ready for Alfred." The monstrosity said to me smiling. In the smile, she showed her teeth that were a perfect shade of white, so white in face that you could see them in the dark.

The lady sent me though a glass door that lead down a narrow hallway that was painted a royal blue. It led me to a room that was completely closed off from everyone, no windows, and no doors. Only an old man standing there with a smile plastered on his wrinkled face.

"Good evening Master Richard, I trust that everything has been pleasurable for you and your stay in the Capitol?" The old man asked me with a happy Capitol accent. This man was not what I was expecting. He was wearing a black tuxedo that went with his grey hair perfectly. He didn't look like someone that would be living in the Capitol. In fact, he looked like he was from one of the districts if I didn't see him in the Capitol with my own eyes. This man and I were going to get along swimmingly, I could already tell.

**A/N: Sorry this took me so long to upload, anyway here it is and I hope that you guys like it. Please review if you want too! :)**


	3. The Big Impression

**Chapter 3**

**The BIG IMPRESSION**

******Disclaimer: I own none of these characters.**

"Alfred I look….. Amazing, how did you do it?" I ask the old grey-haired man with a sharp smile on my face.

Alfred dressed me in a suit that would have the appearance of armor. With a headdress that was lined vertically at the top with ruby red feathers. Below that was a golden plate to shield my head from any attacks. On my shoulders, I wore a scarlet cape that went down to my heels.

Underneath the cape however, I wore brown leather protective padding that surrounded my red shirt, which was serving more of a purpose as an under shirt, rather than an actual shirt that people saw me in. A crimson sash went diagonally across my chest and made its way down to my waist where a belt was found.

The belt held up the second part of my costume and saved me from having to hold my sword. It was a fake sword though, the Capitol was so paranoid that we would kill each other before the games, that they wouldn't even let us use butter knives at the dinner table. I had to sneak the knife I killed Brutus with in my underwear so that the Peacekeepers wouldn't find it. The knife had sentimental value to me, so I had to bring it along.

The lower half of my costume had a skirt of sorts, maybe a kilt, I couldn't tell. This skirt looked like one a worrier might have worn a long time ago, before Panem even. The ends were pointed and it was evenly cut in different sections from the waist down to my thigh.

On my legs, I wore shin guards with more leather around them to protect any attacks from below. On my feet I wore sandals that laced up to my ankle. I knew that District 2 never looked too ridiculous on our chariots like Districts 5, 6, 7, 8; but the man standing in front of me cutting a cloth, had really outdone himself this time.

"Years and years of practice Master Richard. It is a suit for a victor if you get what I am trying to say, I have dressed you in the most exquisite cloth that the known world has to offer. This means that you have to win the games; I want a crown on your head when all of this is over. You understand me." The man said to me with serious look on his face. The room suddenly became much more serious and I knew the old man saw me tense up.

"I will defiantly try my best; my question to you is….. How did you ever think of something so..." I paused for a moment trying to find the best words to describe the situation.

"Extraordinary!" I blurt out and I say him soften up a bit.

"Have you ever heard of the Roman Empire?" Alfred asks me.

"No why. Am I supposed to know who they are?" I retort back to the 80 something year old.

"Well in the Capitol, the people learn of ancient civilizations in their history classes. Great cultures such as the Greeks, the ones who introduced democracy into the world. The Romans, who you are dressed after, who were the strongest military powers that the world had and has ever seen. They ruled faraway places of what used to be Europe and Asia. The only reason that they are still not standing today is because of the corruption of power on the inside. Do you understand what I am saying, Master Richard?"

"Yes sir I do. They destroyed themselves, with the help of outside forces, correct?" I respond, my lips parting slightly in pure fascination. Whatever the old man was telling me, I hoped that there would be plenty more of it to come in the future.

"Wait is that why you dressed me in the Romans attire, because they were the best military superpower that the world has yet seen and District 2 houses Panem's military might?" I asked the man, finally understanding everything that he was saying and why my outfit looked the way that it did. It all made sense now.

"Indeed, and finally the last great culture, the one that the Capitol made us study the most when I was just a young boy; America."

"America?" I tilt my head to the side to let him know that I was questioning what he was saying.

"Yes America, you probably know it as North America. America, where everyone was free to say and do as they pleased, as long as it was within the laws of course. The people had a say in government, there were no districts that were dominated by a supreme Capitol. There were, however, states that housed representatives that took to the Capitol of the nation, which would have been located in District 12 ironically. The people had a say on what was what in their politics."

"And how did it fall?" I ask, my eyes widening due to the intense interest I was taking in the story this guy was telling me.

"Same way that the Romans fell, purely due to the fact that they went into poverty and people started turning on one another, neighbor against neighbor, sons against daughters, mother against child. It was pure and utter chaos, then the natural disasters started to happen and the rest they teach you in class."

"You can probably tell it better than Mrs. Norwell, she was terrible; I hate her." I tell him with ferocity. I did truly hate that woman; she is one of the main reasons today that I don't have many friends.

"Alright then. The people wanted a new government to stop all the crimes and disasters that were happening. Our government now took form and separated all the areas into what we call districts. Each said district had its own resource, for instance, District 7 gives the Capitol all the lumber and wood that it needs to survive, while District 11 gives the people of the Capitol all the crops and foods that we eat other than meat. That is about it, Master Richard. You are living through the rest.

"Were those three the only great civilizations that ever existed?" To be completely honest, I had no idea; no one outside the Capitol had any idea of what happened before Panem. And quite frankly, it sickened me; to my very core and being.

"Heavens no, Master Richard. There were plenty more, such as the Russians, the French, the English, the Ottomans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, the Japanese, and the list just goes on for miles. No one is really sure anymore how many great civilizations that there used to be, it makes me very sad and depresses me to this day." His face saddened a bit and I could tell that he was legitimately hurt; I put my hand on his shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Come, come Master Richard. We have to make the big impression today and you need sponsors to win the games. I don't want you to be late for your chance at fame and glory."

* * *

"Wow Dick you look absolutely stunning, and I usually don't give you complements, no complements actually." Babs yelled this out as she was running up to me with a crushing hug.

"Well you don't look too bad yourself, you look a lot like me in-….. Babs?" I ask her with my mouth agape, there walking in with two other districts was a ginger haired boy that made my stomach do backflips.

_What are you doing Dick, it's just a boy, there are plenty of them back at home. Why is this guy doing this to me, I will be sure to make an alliance with him just so I can look at his face….. WAIT WHAT?_

"Dick are you ok?" Barbara shook my shoulders until I returned to reality.

"Yeah I'm fine, why did something look wrong to you?" I asked the red head as I tried to play off my lapse on reality nonchalantly, this didn't work with Barbara Gordon, however. That is one chick that you do not want to fuck with, ever.

"You're a terrible liar, Dick. Bullshit aside, what is really going on with you? Ever since the tributes from District 1, 3, and 5 walked in, you have been blushing and ignoring everything I have said. What's up with you? You like one of those people over there and it's my job to find out who it is. I'm going to get the information that I want Dick, whether you like it or not!" Barbara told me in a threating tone. Her eyes livid, she hated when there was something wrong with someone, but yet they will never tell you. It was Barbara's pet peeve.

"It's nothing Babs, just let things be. I am just not used to all these different types of people around me, that's all!" I shout at her, drawing attention from the two tributes of District 4. Both of them had very dark skin that was much darker than my pale appearance. The male tribute of the group had short blonde hair with piercing grey eyes, while the female, darker than her male counterpart, had short black hair that went very well with her big brown eyes. They begin to approach us along with the tributes from District 1. I catch the male tribute's eyes and I go stiff, sharply turning away, my face a red color. I look back at him and he is a sharp shade of red as well. He is smiling none the less.

"So I've figured it out Dickie, it's either the boy or the girl from 1 and you know it." She gives me a smirk and I elbow her in the ribs.

"Fine you've figured it out, can we please just let this go now? For the love of everything that is holy, just drop it ok." I hiss at her.

"I sure can, but I doubt that this is just a small crush on a certain ginger, you're crushing hard on one of those tributes, and the question is which one, my small friend" Barbara said with a smirk as the tributes from District 4 approached us.

"So you guys are from District 2, huh? Well you look really impressive; it blows what we are wearing right out of the water." The dark skinned girl said to Barbara and me; a friendly smile plastered on her face. The District 4 tributes were dressed as fish, Koy fish I believe is what their stylist was trying to pull off, but they failed to do so.

"I'm Raquel, and my friend here is Kaldur'ahm, but everyone just calls him Kaldur because his name is so awkward to say." She looks at him smiling a bit, a small blush creeping on to her face.

"So are you guys like a thing?" Babs asked the girl who in turn directed her attention to the grey eyed boy.

"Indeed, I volunteered myself for the boy in my district because I wanted to keep her safe. We are going to win and go back home to get married. She is legal and I am legal, therefore we will be wed." The tall boy said to Babs and interlocking his girlfriend's fingers with his own. Babs gave an audible 'awwwww' and then turned her head towards the two tributes that were walking up to us. The tall boy with carrot orange hair and beautiful emerald eyes was walking over with a short girl with red hair, but not nearly as beautiful as her male counterpart's hair stood out. Neither of them had their costumes on yet, it seems that they had just arrived, or their stylist was still working on them. I was going to go with the latter, because District 1 was not an outlying district, therefore they would have been here just as long as me and Babs, or even longer.

"Hey guys, you must be the rest of the career pack, I'm Wally. Wally West, and this is Megan Morse, we're from District 1. And you, little dude, must be the kid that killed Brutus. I was really impressed with you after I heard about what happened." The taller male said to me, a small blush on his face. He reached back and scratched his neck; I could feel the blood rushing towards my face.

"Well thanks, he was trying to hurt my best friend, rape her actually. He was a monster and I ended him. Why, you scared of me now?" I turn my direction towards Wally and give him a cocky smirk. I could actually feel the tension leave the room and everything became a bit more comfortable.

"Yeah little dude, you scare the shit out of me. Literally, I am petrified for my life I just want to crawl into a corner and hug a pillow because you make me so scared." He replies to me sarcastically.

We both burst out in a fit of laughter and we fall to the floor, even if the joke was not that funny, me and this guy were acting like we have been best friends for years. The other tributes turn their attention to us and give us smiles, Babs begins snickering herself.

I hop off the ground and extend my hand to help Wally up. He takes my hand and I feel my stomach start to do more flips. Touching this kid made me feel different than anyone I have ever encountered in my life. It was a very weird feeling for me and I don't know whether I like it or not.

"Come on, we've got idiots to impress, and then tomorrow we intimidate." Barbara said to the other tributes.

"So Dick, do you have a girlfriend back at home?" Wally asked me with a wide grin on his face. Wally and I had separated from the rest of the group and were walking back to our mentors together. I make sure that the pace is very slow, slower than usual anyway. Much slower.

"Haha you must be joking right, why on Earth would anyone ever bat an eyelash my way." I tell the ginger; I knew that he could see the confidence drain out of my voice.

"Well they're idiots, they don't see what I see" Wally mumbled the last part and I legitimately could not hear anything but a low humming sound come out of his mouth.

"What did you just say to me Wally?"

"Nothing little dude, nothing at all."

"Wally where did you go, I can't see through all of your bullshit. Now seriously tell me what you said before I get angry and kill you." I snap at the cocky ginger.

"Well then I guess you are going to have to kill me because I am not telling you anything, killer." He darts his eyes at me in a playful, but challenging way and I smirk.

"Well Walls, I guess we are going to have to do this the hard way." I tell the carrot headed ginger as I start to run after him, my chariot costume making it a little hard to run; but I managed to get the hang of it pretty fast.

I tackle the ginger and we roll around on the ground, grabbing the attention of the other tributes from the outlying districts, as well as the tributes that were going to be in the career alliance. I stratle the ginger and put my fake sword to his throat.

"I told you West, I am going to get that answer out of you one way or another." I whisper in the older boys ear making him shudder and give out a moan.

"Now tell me what I want to hear before I shove this piece of wood down your throat."

"Fine, you really want to know huh?"

"Nope, I just tackled you to the ground demanding answers because I didn't want to know. Of course I want to know!" I can feel my voice getting louder in irritation but I still had a playful smile on my face. It was impossible for me to be angry at the ginger below me, which kind of scares me a bit. I am usually very good at holding grudges against people. This one time when I was 9 I didn't even talk to Barbara for a week because she made me mad. She made me angry because she took the last piece of bread that I had mentally claimed.

"Alright I will tell you. I…" Wally started.

"RICHARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET OFF OF THAT BOY THIS INSTANT, IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO LOAD ON YOUR CHARRIOT AND WIN OVER THE CROWD!" Diana screeched at me with her bird voice. And right now that is the last thing I wanted to hear someone say to me.

_Seriously, I was just about to get an answer too! Of course this would happen to me, the odds are never in my favor!_

"Sorry little dude, looks like we will have to pick this conversation up tomorrow." He laughed and I get off of him, realizing that I had been stratling his waist for a good five minutes; if not more.

For the second time today I find myself helping the District 1 boy off the ground.

"Thanks man, and hey I really would like to continue this conversation tomorrow. I will even tell you what I said." He gives me a lopsided smile and jogs back over to where Megan is to get fitted and changed for his costume.

"I will hold you too that, West." I shout back at him and make my way back over to Barbara.

"So, Dickie, I think I have figured out who you have been crushing on, and you've got it bad." The sassy redhead says to me.

"Shut up Babs." I groan out, because all of her words were true. I did have it bad.

* * *

"Make sure that if you are going to smile out there, make it a good smile. Not one of those creepy smiles that would make you seem like a pedophile alright you guys." Clove says to us as she helps us onto the chariot. I could see the makeup smearing under her eyes and I knew that she had been crying her eyes out only moments ago.

"I will try my best not to look like a creepy pedophile, honestly I am not that weird looking." I say to Clove as she gives me a warm smile.

"I think that your boyfriend could agree with that too Dick. In fact he does agree with you about that haha."

"You just love having fun at other people's expense don't you Barbara? And hey, we aren't boyfriends."

"Correction you aren't boyfriends YET, you will be before these games are over" She slams my ribs with her elbow and raises her eyebrows to show emphasis on the word yet.

"No I don't think so Babs, I don't think I have the stomach to kill him, we are already acting like we've known each other for years and I only met the guy an hour ago."

"Maybe they will change the rules to where you both can win, and then everything would be okay right?"

"I highly doubt that Snow would change the rules for me, besides even if he did, we are in two separate districts. That would also mean that you would have to die, and I certainly don't want that. Look, all I know is that I am friends with this guy, he's already my best guy friend in the games, but I don't want anything more to happen to us….. Our relationship I mean, if I am going to have to kill him." I look at Babs and put on the best serious face that I can manage.

"For one thing Dick I am a big girl, I can take care of myself. No one in our whole district can throw or wield an axe like I can. Secondly, you need to tell this boy how you feel because if he dies and you don t tell him, you are going to regret it for the rest of your life."

The redhead had a point; it would haunt my mind for the rest of my life until the day I die. I am going to tell him how I feel tomorrow, but I just won't start a relationship with the guy. Yeah that should work, I'm pretty sure.

Suddenly I feel a jerk of the chariot and huge double doors open to reveal a huge stadium full of people cheering and chanting, but that was not what shocked me. I mean I had seen it on television a million times before, but to actually witness its marvel and grandeur in person, I was speechless.

The President's mansion was magnificent. It was utterly stunning and trumped any other building that the Capitol had to offer. It sparkled in the moonlight, and on the balcony, I could see the president waiting for the arrival of the tributes.

"This is it Dick, our big moment. Now are we going to smile, blow kisses, or just wave with frowns on our faces? You better think of a game plan fast because these things can move pretty fast. I am actually scared of falling off."

"Just do whatever feels natural, Babs. I'm just going to smile and wave, but you can do whatever you want too. Hey I have an image for you."

"Oh yeah and what's that?"

"You could be the whore in the games that bangs all the guys to win, you know all the guys but Wally. He's mine." And then I felt myself tense up in front of the whole country. What had I just said about the male tribute from 1?

Barbara seems to have missed my little comment about Wally and I couldn't be happier. I put on the biggest grin that I could manage and start to wave my hand to the people of Panem. I look to the screen and all the eyes are on us, just me and Barbara, who seems to have taken up the role of the whore, for now. Before she starts putting axes inside of people's brains.

As quickly as it started it was over, we were at the President's front door and I didn't even realize it until the chariots came to a screeching halt. The President was about to begin his very short speech before he released us to our mentors and let us get to our apartment.

"Good evening tributes. What a wonderful way to start off this year's Hunger Games. I believe that this year will be one of the best Hunger Games in history. So good luck and Happy Hunger Games!" President Snow announced to all of us, and I can feel a pair of eyes on me. I turn in my head to see a girl with hair black as night, her eyes amber, like a hot fire that would be merciless burning you to a crisp. She gives me a wink and cackles evilly. I can't help but feel that the girl from District 11 will be a very big problem, no scratch that, a huge problem.

* * *

"YOU DID GREAT, I SWEAR YOU GUYS WERE AMAZING!" Diana yells in my ear and I can see Babs get a little angry at this.

"Wow thanks Diana, now if you wouldn't mind. STOP YELLING IN MY FUCKING EAR LIKE THIS!" Babs yells back at the woman from the Capitol, I laugh to myself and walk into our apartment which was decorated much like the bus, except much more spacious and beautiful.

I see Wally sitting at the table already eating while Megan was sitting across from him looking a little disgusted.

"You guys made it, finally." Wally says to me and Babs with his mouth full of food as we give each other questioning looks before we take our seats. I sit next to Wally and I can feel him scooting closer to me as I look into his emerald eyes. They were stunning and full of so much love and compassion.

"I've been meaning to ask you guys, what are you doing in our apartment?" I ask whoever was listening to me. Wally seems to have heard what I said.

"Well this year the Capitol wanted to try something different. Districts 1 and 2 get along so well that the President thought that it would be a great idea if we combined the apartments together, he is doing it with all the districts really. District 3 and 4 are together, 5 and 6 are together, and so on. I thought it was a great idea actually, we have the opportunity to get to know each other a little better." Wally turned his attention toward me and winked. A blush was all too apparent on my face and neck; my ears were red as well.

"Well I think I like this new change, where is everyone going to be sleeping though, I mean there are only three bedrooms?" I ask Wally because he was so full of answers tonight.

"Well they cleared a wall and allowed two king beds into each of the tributes rooms. So now the size of the room is doubled and there are four beds total, think of it as a giant dorm room. It will be fun won't it, little dude?"

"Are you coming on to me, West?"

"That depends, do you want me to?"

Suddenly the room felt a lot warmer and I was at a loss for words, what was I supposed to say to a cocky red-head that flipped my whole world upside down?

I sit down and eat every single last piece of food that was in front of me. Lamb stew, fried chicken and pork as far as the eye could see. The Capitol had enough food to end world hunger, yet they shared none with the districts, kinda pisses me off a bit.

* * *

After we eat, we engage in small talk among the other tributes, learning little things about one another. For instance, we learned that Megan lived with her uncle John back in District 1. Wally loved to run every day and he would always run 5k's on his academy track. Barbara told everyone that she loved to throw anything sharp, whether it be an axe, knife, or even a sword. That is just what she is good at. I told everyone about how I killed Brutus with the knife that I snuck from back home in my underpants. Needless to say, my story was the most interesting.

"Now come on Dick, I think it is past your bed time and I don't want you to be cranky for your first day of training. So it's time to hit the hay. Night ladies." Wally suddenly grabbed me by the arm and yanked me into the room we would be sharing until the games started.

Wally flung us into the large room with a holographic wall that showed the snow covered trees of District 2 on one side, while the other side showed the beautiful dessert that District 1 had to offer.

I sit down on the bed and Wally joins me, we just stare into each other's eyes for what felt like forever before either one of us say anything. I finally breaks the silence.

"What did you say to me, back when I was trying to kill you with that wooden sword?" I ask him with a small blush on my face.

"Oh we were talking about how no one in your district would give you the time of day, and then I said they were stupid because they don't see what I see."

"Wally?"

"Yes?"

"What do you see in me, that the others don't?" I ask the taller male, scooting closer to him putting my head on his shoulder. Instantly I feel his head on mine and I smile a bit. There was a long pause that made me think that Wally was trying to figure out words to say to me. He was trying to gather his thoughts and tell me how he truly felt. It warmed my heart and put a smile on my lips.

"What I see in you little dude is a gorgeous male with stunning blue eyes that take my breath away every time I look at them. You have a nice body that millions of people wish that they could have, but try as they might; they fail in comparison to your inner and outer beauty. Your personality is what really got me though, the way that we can just laugh and have fun with each other like we have known one another for years; even if I did just meet you this afternoon. You're kind; I can tell by the way that you killed that asshole, Brutus for Babs. It also shows a vast amount of bravery that I can only wish for at night. It shows that you aren't afraid to protect the ones that you love, even if it means eliminating someone to keep them safe, you would do it. You are the perfect person in life, not too nice, but not mean either. Your personality and appearance just makes my stomach knot up every time I look at you, you're stunning, and I would be a fool not to notice that I am falling for a guy that I would let kill me in the games just so that he could live. I know that I am babbling now but you are perfect, you're perfect to me." Wally said with a scarlet blush on his face.

My mouth remained agape, unable to process what the ginger just told me. I take my head off of his shoulder and look him in the eyes; those beautiful green eyes that made my stomach urge to just be closer to the taller male.

Finally my brain process what the male said to me and I hastily press my lips to his. Wally's lips were chapped and worn down from the cold air and ridding through the streets of the Capitol. Wally licks my lips and I open my mouth slightly to allow his tongue into explore my mouth. His tongue scrapes the roof of my mouth and I give out an audible moan that puts a smirk on Wally's lips. I place my tongue in his mouth, not really knowing what to do with it so I just do what Wally does inside of mine. I get the hang of it eventually and just let everything happen naturally. Our teeth clash and tongues battle for dominance as we continue the heated passion until air is essential and I pull apart from his lips, but not his body. I was panting for breath when Wally pulls me closer and we fall back on the king bed, my legs intertwined with his as he pulled me closer toward him.

"That was amazing, Wally. I've never done anything like that." I tell to the ginger below me, legs still intertwined.

"Yeah I know, I can tell. You didn't know what to do with your tongue did you, oh well you will get better at it, I promise. I can remember when I first started out; I kissed a girl named Ribbon. The known whore of our district and she taught me everything that I know. You see, she knew I was gay when I kissed her, that's why she only let me kiss her and not anything else. I've kissed pretty good ever since." Wally said with a guilty blush on his face.

I kiss his nose and give him a smirk.

"So what you're telling me is that I'm not your first? You're a whore, West I can't believe we just that, I could have some sort of STD now and it would be all your fault."

We both laugh and Wally pulls me closer to him, I am on top of the ginger and our foreheads are touching. I give him a smile and he smiles back at me flashing his beautiful white teeth.

"Hey, Dick."

"Yeah Wally."

"What does this make us now, we a defiantly way more than friends, but are we in an actual relationship, or not?"

"Wally, I had this same conversation with Barbara. To be honest, I don't want to start a relationship with you because we are going to go into the Hunger Games and one of us is going to die. I don't think that my heart could take that. But on the flip side, I really like you, a lot. So I was thinking that we could be a thing, you know until one of us dies because I am not going to kill you, I don't have the stomach to do that." I tell him grinning, but deep down inside, I knew that if Wally was killed during the games, I would lose most of my will to live. Who knew that one person could change my whole perspective on life in just one afternoon.

_So far Dick this is what Wally has done to you today. Given you a best friend that will protect you in the games, come to the realization that you are gay, or at least gay for Wally, and that you are more scared than ever to go into the dreaded Hunger Games._

"Dick are you okay, you zoned out?" Wally asks me with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, I just realized how petrified I am about the games; only one person can come out."

"Or two, if you and Babs win together." Wally tells me with a smile on his face. I give him a glare that says 'you're-missing-the-point-so-just-shut-up.'

"But still, I am just worried about what is going to happen to you and me, after the two weeks of training are over, we will be put in that goddamned arena forced to kill people. What if someone kills you Wally or you die because you starve to death? What if nature kills you because you got a bad gash and then you die because you bleed out? I am just freaking out, I can't handle losing you or Babs! I don't know what to do!" Tears start rolling down my face and Wally strokes my back, whispering reassuring words into my ear. I put my forehead on his chest and just let the tears flow down my face. The reality of the situation I was in finally caught up to me and I was majorly under prepared for it. I was going to be competing in the Hunger Games.

"Listen Dick, I can see how troubled you are by this and I feel the same way but just remember that we are professionals, and we know how to kill to stay alive. We will go into training tomorrow and intimidate the other competition, and after that we will learn how to keep ourselves alive. I promise that I will never leave your side during the games. No, in fact I swear it. Me and you will be the A-team of these games. Okay buddy, please stop crying I can't stand to see you like this." Wally starts to tear up as well and he kisses the top of my head in an attempt to calm me down.

"You promise me that you won't leave me, please so many people have left me in life, and I can't handle another one to leave me too." I hug the tall ginger with all my might, for fear that if I wasn't hugging him hard enough, I would lose him like so many other people in my life.

"I promise you, Dick Grayson, that whatever I do during these games. I will never willingly leave your side, you understand me?" I look into his emerald eyes and find nothing but the truth showing in them.

"Thank you Walls." I give him a chase kiss on the lips and then put my head in his shoulder, he begins to hug me tighter than ever before.

"Can you believe that just this afternoon, we first met? It seems surreal doesn't it? I mean you are the best person that I have ever met other than Megan. Except Megan has nothing on you, nothing at all."

With that last comment, I fall asleep in Wally's strong arms, still dressed in all my chariot clothes other than the headdress. I had a content smile plastered on my lips.

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to upload, I had a really hard time figuring out the outfits for the parade. I hope that you guys like it, review if you want :)**


	4. Training, Part 1

**A/N: The flashback scene involving Jason is in the third person, I just wanted to clarify on that so there wouldn't be any confusion.**

* * *

Training, Part 1

* * *

"During the next two weeks you will learn new survival skills that will keep you alive during the games. While some of you think that grabbing the nearest weapon and taking it into your opponent's heart is the best thing to do, then you are wrong. In fact most of you will die from natural causes, 30% from dehydration, 30% from starvation, 5% from burns, 5% from hyperthermia, 20% from rouge predators, and 10% from unnatural causes. Such as other people, it is in your best interest not to just learn how to kill, but learn how to survive as well." The Gamesmaker told us, she looked straight at me and Wally when she said not to go for the weapons. I roll my eyes and turn my attention to Wally, who in turn looks back at me with a smile on his face.

"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence lady. Glad to know that you are rooting for us out there." Barbara said to the woman. This earned a laugh from all the tributes and I could tell that Babs was just sitting there with so much power; I could see it on her face. She was very content with how this day was turning out.

"Young lady, keep in mind that I can have you thrown out of my training session. Hold your tongue." The woman barked back at Barbara, feeling offended.

"You can throw me out; it's not going to stop me from wiping the floor with these amateurs during the actual games. This training is a joke, no one can learn to throw a knife in two weeks, it takes years."

"Alright young lady, you want to be a smart-ass? Get out of my training hall, immediately." The Gamesmaker sneered at Babs.

"My pleasure, and just so you know-" Babs suddenly takes a knife off the table throws it straight at the target closest to her. The knife landing right on the bull's-eye.

"I don't need this training you little bitch; neither does Dick, Wally, Kaldur, Raquel, or Megan. You can go fuck yourself." Babs walks away with a proud smile on her face. I turn to look at the Gamesmaker, who had a look of pure and utter shock written all over it.

"That's going to cost us. What does Babs think that she is doing? Does she not understand that these people really control whether we live or die?" I say to Wally, facepalming for Barbara Gordon's lack of self-control.

"She sees herself above all these people, or that's the type of person that she is trying to be in the games. She's on the right track, she's de-humanizing these kids. It's harder to kill someone you see as a human with feelings and emotions. That's why psychopaths are so dangerous, they don't see people as people; only their next kill. All the people here are just children playing soldiers; she's doing herself a favor and making the killing a little easier. I don't blame her, but I don't support her either."

"Wow Wally, who knew you could be so philosophical? Mind telling me where you got all this sudden wisdom?"

"Nah, if I told you, you wouldn't be coming to me for advice anymore would you, little dude?"

"I suppose not, but I think that all this sudden wisdom that you are putting on display will ultimately be my downfall." I tell the sixteen year old ginger with a slight smirk on my lips.

"You may begin training." The large Gamemaker boomed through the large gymnasium that we would be practicing to slaughter children in.

I immediately rush over to the small weapon throwing station and to my surprise; I am followed by over half of the other tributes.

I'm not the first one there, but among the first. The first girl to go is the tribute from 8. Missing the target with every throw of the knife, she leaves the station to try something easier. You could easily tell that she was humiliated by her failure.

The next boy to go is from 8 as well, _I guess the only thing that the tributes from District 8 have going on for them is the fact that they are quick; they will be dead before the first day is over. _

I snap out of my thoughts when the man directing the station calls for me. I step up to the throwing pad and see the large selection of weapons that were provided for me. Knives, axes, hatchets, bladed fans, scissors, sai blades, blow darts, and ninja stars.

I reach out and grab the scissors and stars, then wait for the targets to appear in front of me.

"Good luck, Dick." I hear a famine voice behind me say and instantly figure out that it was Megan.

"Thanks Megs, but lucks got nothing to do with it. It's all talent baby." I turn and give her a cocky smirk.

Turning back around, the man presses the button and targets pop out of nowhere. I release the large pair of scissors and one blade hits the target right in the heart while the other hits it in the scull.

I see another target and I toss my ninja star and it lands in the bull's-eye, the heart.

One last target appears and I pick up two knives, throwing them both into the mannequin. The knives logging themselves inside the eye sockets of the figurine.

I turn around to find everyone in line staring at me with pure and utter fear in their eyes, even the man directing the station. Not that I blame them, I would be petrified too.

And then I see her, the dark haired girl from 11. She has a wide, evil looking smile on her lips and she is staring intently at me. She walks over and begins to speak to me.

"You did great back there, I like the way you control the weapon. It really is fascinating how you will be able to kill some of these people in two weeks. I'm Zatanna by the way." She extends her hand for me to shake it and I wearily take the offer.

Once my hand is in hers, I can feel the life drain out of me a little. "_Evig em eht tcirtsid owt s'yob stnelat dna slliks!" _I hear the black haired girl yell out, the words echoing from her mouth. I look into her eyes and they are glowing a bright red color, I could no longer see anything in her eyes but the red. I become lightheaded and release her hand, regaining some of my composure.

Once my hand releases hers, I notice a spark of energy that rears itself in front of my eyes. It was blue and yellow; it almost looked like a small ball that I used to toss around with Bruce in his free time. It was, of course, pure energy that was being sucked into the District 11 girl's hands. It scared me, scratch that; mortified me. This girl practically drained me of most of my energy. Imagine what she could do in the arena.

A sudden realization comes over me and I start to shake uncontrollably.

_This girl could probably kill me with a small utter of words. I am going to have to kill her in the blood-bath or she will have my head on a platter. I need to go find Wally!_

"My, my; that's some handshake there 2." She gives off a wicked cackle. "Oh by the way I never got your name." The witch suddenly asks, shocking me out of my thoughts.

"I-it's D-Dick." I struggle to find words and hastily run from the District 11 girl who laughs evilly as I retreat from her. Tripping and falling over people and weapons that were in my way, shoving things out of the way to the best of my ability. I am disoriented and I can hardly walk.

Suddenly I crash into a column and grasp it until my knuckles are white, wrapping my legs around it, shaking.

I see Wally who is over by the large weapon throwing section, waiting in line for his turn to show the other tributes what he could do.

Before Wally was a girl with long blonde hair that went down past her waist. She was turned facing Wally and had lust written all over her piercing grey-eyes, she had a bow on her back, and by the looks of it; she had just finished her turn. I sneak over to where the ginger was being molested by a blonde archer with bad intentions. Eavesdropping on the two, I pretend that I am working at the next station over, listening in on their conversation.

"Haha Wally you're so funny, nobody at home can make me laugh the way that you do."

"Yeah I am funny…. Too bad I didn't say anything that was even humorous; I don't understand why you're laughing." Wally gave the District 12 girl a creeped out laugh and started to back up.

Not taking the hit, the blonde girl walks closer to the uncomfortable ginger and whispered in his ear.

"You're going to scream my name before these games are over, you understand me hot stuff. I just love a man in uniform."

"Haha I'm flattered but I don't—"

"Shh don't speak, you make me so wet West, you don't even understand. You're going to be inside of me whether you like it or not." The blonde girl bites her lower lip and giggles a bit.

My insides fill with rage, sadness and jealously. Forgetting everything that just happened with the witch, I look around to find a knife lying on a table. I pick it up, remembering Babs actions earlier today, and chuck it, hitting the wall that divided Wally and the whore.

Shock written all over the girl's face, and a surprised yelp coming from Wally, they turn to look at me.

"Hey, slut, mind backing off of him? Can't you see he's not interested in getting an STD?" I yell to the girl, who facial expression changes from that of shock, to anger and humiliation.

"And what business is it of yours anyway little asshole?" The blonde girl sneered at me.

"Oh, I don't know, probably the fact that he's my….errr… friend." _What is Wally to me now? We never finished that conversation last night. Ugggh why am I so easily able to be distracted by Wally fucking West?_ _Dammit Grayson!_

"All I know is that he is gay. And besides, even if he was straight, I doubt that he would go as low as fucking a used up, small boobed, whore that bangs every hot guy that she sees." I reply back to the blonde archer calmly, but with ferocity.

"What, you're telling me that you are gay?" She turns her attention to Wally, and gives him a disgusted look, much like the one that Megan had given him last night at dinner. She hastily backs up off of Wally, much to the ginger's pleasure.

"That's disgusting, people were not born to be gay. You two are freaks of nature and it makes me sick." The blonde girl replied with a disgusted look on her face.

"You know what is disgusting you little cunt? The fact that you have contracted every single STD in the book. Hell you probably even have a new creation of one, your vagina is just a melting pot of diseases, isn't it you bitch? And to make matters worse, your face looks like a horse so you should not be throwing insults at anyone."

By now I have attracted a crowd. The Gamesmakers were watching a laughing, hopefully at the girl and not me.

Wally is now standing by my side, arm on my shoulder, and glaring daggers at the girl. He finally speaks up to the blonde girl that was trying to seduce him only moments ago.

"You might be a good archer and all, but I've figured out your real plan. You were going to act weak and be a whore and then after you were done fucking you would kill everyone that you screwed. Yeah we're disgusting, sorry that I am all in your face with my homosexuality. Next time I will try a little better to hide it." Wally replies sarcastically.

The blonde girl huffs in irritation and stomps away. I turn and look at Wally who smiles at me.

"Sorry for announcing to the whole country that you were gay." I tell the ginger with an apologetic look on my face.

"Hey as long as that girl's not on top of me anymore, I'm good!" Wally says as he puts his hands up in the air to show relief.

"I'm just glad I saved you before she got her lips on you, and you know I'm not talking about her mouth." I retort back to Wally.

We both begin to laugh until our faces are red and Wally is crying. We receive many looks, but I can feel the gaze of the blonde girl from 12 and the dark haired girl from 11.

"From now on I think that you should stick around with me before you get attacked again. Come on we should go and watch some of the other tributes, intimidate them a little bit" I bump his ribs with my elbow and cackle.

"It'll be fun." I tell the taller boy as we walk over to an area where three kids were trying to learn how to build a fire. Wally and I stand there watching the three tributes when the boy from 6 lights his sticks on fire. Everyone around him applauded and patted him on the back, while Wally and I just look at each other, unimpressed.

"How long do you think it took him to build that?" Wally whispers in my ear.

"Probably an hour or so and judging by the look on the station leaders face, he doesn't seem very impressed either." I retort back to Wally

There was a long, comfortable pause between Wally and I.

"Wals, why don't we have some fun? There is really nothing that we can learn. It's all just practice to us by now. Let's mess with the three kids over there." I give the ginger a mischievous smirk, breaking the silence.

"I don't know what you're plan is Grayson, but as long as you're in, so am I." He replies back to me with glee. I whispered the plan into Wally's ear and he grows a Cheshire cat grin on his face with each passing detail.

We walk over to where the three kids are sitting and pop a squat next to the boy who recently started the small fire. He was tiny, very tiny. He couldn't be taller than 4 feet 9 inches. Even I was taller than him, by a long shot. That is saying something because I am one of the shortest people in my entire district. He had curly brown hair that made an afro. He had dark brown eyes that almost matched the color tree bark, almost. He couldn't be older than 13.

"Wow that was an amazing job that you did starting that fire, 6. I'm Dick Grayson and this is my friend Wally, and I have to say that we were very impressed with the job that you did starting that fire, would you mind doing it again?" I ask the boy looking back at Wally who was desperately trying to keep his laughter under control.

Little did the District 6 boy know that Wally had made a cord connecting his fire pit to the large boy from District 11. The muscular boy from District 11 was as pale as I was, which was weird considering that he worked in the farms every day.

Pushing the distracting thoughts out of my head, I turn my attention back to the boy trying to start the fire.

"Ughhhh come on, I just did this! I know I will get it eventually." Banging his rocks together trying to create a spark, he finally achieves the seemingly impossible and starts the fire.

The cord that Wally had placed in the fire began to shorten due to the fact that flames were engulfing it quickly.

Before anyone could react, the cord goes into the boy from District 11's pants and causes a small explosion. Screaming out in agony, he turns towards the station that Wally and I were currently standing at, having shocked expressions on our faces. But of course, they were fake; on the inside we were having a laugh attack. The boy looked like he could smash though your face with one punch and showing our amusement at his agony would surely make him kill us.

He storms over to the fire station and approaches the boy who started the fire. Getting very close to his face, he yells at the boy.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING YOU LITTLE ASSHOLE? TRYING TO BLOW ME IN HALF, YOU'RE GOING TO PAY! AND IT'S GOING TO HURT, BAD!" He raises his fist up to punch the boy in his jaw, and finally seeing the fault in my plan, I react.

I jump in front of District 6 and hit the strong boy from 11 in the arm with a couple of quick jabs. Jumping in the air and twisting my body, I am now facing his back and deliver a couple more punches on certain spots on the boy's spine. I kick the back of his leg and roll on his back to where I am turned to his face. My eyes managing to gain contact with his icy blue ones, I slap both of his ears, stunning the maniac. Then I deliver the final blow and kick him in his torso on his very built chest muscles. He falls back onto the floor with an audible thud, causing me to remember the altercation I had with Brutus back on the train towards the Capitol.

I snap back into reality when Wally pats my back in admiration and my success in bringing a boy to the ground that was twice my size.

"Dude that was _fucking _awesome, how in the world did you do it? You only punched him like 10 times, none of them even in the face." The ginger haired boy asked with pure fascination written all over his face.

"Something I picked up from my school, all you do is hit people in a couple nerves and they are completely paralyzed. It took me a couple years to master, but I finally learned it. I think that Babs may know how to do it too, but I'm not entirely sure." I reply back to Wally with a blush creeping onto my face.

"That's amazing, you've GOT to teach me some of those moves." Wally replied to me with determination mixed with excitement. All I can do is blush and not say a word to the ginger.

"Come on little man, we best get out of here before we get in trouble or big foot over there gets up." Wally directs his gaze towards the massive boy lying on the ground behind us.

We walk over to the first aid station where a large, fat man is sitting asleep with his arm supporting his head from falling on the table. Wally and I share a glance, Wally then smirks at me.

Suddenly, Wally slides his arm knocking the fat man's hand out from under his head. Due to the lack of arm that was supporting the man's head, his face falls on top of the desk and he groans.

The man looks up, looking quite irritated, and I notice the name tag that he was wearing. The fat guys name was Victor, an unusual name for someone in the Capitol, but a strong name none the less.

"What the hell do you two want? Can't you see that I'm busy over here?" Victor asks Wally and I with heavy sarcasm evident in his voice.

"Oh I'm sorry, do you want me to let you sleep? I'll just do that, let me get that boss of yours on the way out and tell her how you refused to help us poor, untalented, defenseless tributes from gaining any survival skills. Yeah that should be a good show; she seems like a very understanding woman. I'm sure you will still have your job and your dignity if that were to happen." Wally retorts back to Victor, his eyes gleaming with confidence and viciousness.

"Fine, you little assholes. You've got my attention, but I hardly think that you two are defenseless. Shorty over here threw knives into a dummy's eye socket, not a pleasant thing to think about. And as for you ginger, before that girl started flirting with you, I saw you throwing the spear into countless targets, all hitting the bull-eyes. Do not try to bullshit me, ever. I'm smarter than people give me credit for, way smarter."

He mumbles the last part and begin to remember who this guy is. He is a victor, from a Hunger Games that I can't remember. He climbed through the jungle trees and stole food from the careers while they were asleep until they all starved. That was the year that the Gamesmakers decided that they wanted to see how long the games would last if they only put food in half of the bags. Needless to say, the games only lasted a week. He was very clever, and resourceful; he never directly killed a single person. I think that this guy might have been the mentor of the District 5 girl two years back. Unfortunately she committed suicide by eating those berries, or at least that's what everyone says.

"By any chance do you happen to be a victor of the Hunger Games?" I ask Victor with a skeptical look on my face.

"You catch on fast boy. Yes I was a victor of the 54th Hunger Games, the year of no food is what people dub it I assume. I moved to the Capitol and became a teacher so that I wouldn't have to get close to anymore tributes only to watch them die. It pains me every single year to know that innocent kids are being shipped off to slaughter each other through no choice over their own." I can tell that I struck a nerve, he begins to tear up. I look over at Wally with a concerned look on my face.

"Cheer up guy, you shouldn't be sad anymore. Try to get past all of those tributes; it won't do you any good to mourn over their deaths anymore. You have to move on." Wally tells the now sobbing man, placing his hand atop Victor's.

"How can I move on when the goddamn Capitol took my little girl away from me?" Victor shouts at us.

"Who was your daughter?" I ask the middle aged man, trying my very best not to upset him any further.

"She was the one from District 5 two years ago, you know the year with the 'girl-on-fire.' She was so close to victory, four tributes away from coming home to me. Then she had to kill herself! She just had to eat those berries and kill herself!" He screams out through the gymnasium, everyone stops what they are doing for the third time today to look at Wally and I.

"So it's true then, she did eat the berries on purpose; not by accident?" I ask the man.

"Of course it's true; she knew what each and every berry in the world was, and their consequences. The nightlock, she was always particularly interested in that berry, how it's able to kill you in a matter of minutes. She knew all the survival skills, yet she chose to end her life right when it seemed that she would win." Victor now has a rapid flow of tears running down his face.

"Why would she kill herself if she was about to win, it doesn't make any sense?"

"I'll tell you why, she refused to kill anyone even if that meant that she had to die in the process. I taught her how to use a knife, she could have killed the District 2 tributes in their sleep if she so pleased. And as for the District 12 boy, nature would have taken care of him, which it did. She was too close to her morals, she refused to kill and take another human life. She saw that she would have to kill someone in order to win the games and she couldn't do it, no matter how much she wanted to get home. Then she saw how happy the two from District 2 were and she couldn't spoil their happiness, so she ended her life."

"Victor I'm so sorry." I look at the station director and give him a sympathetic look.

"Thanks but being sorry for me isn't going to bring my little girl back, and besides, you two came over here for a reason. Do you even want to learn?" The large man was struggling to find the strength to ask or tell us anything. Victor continued to constantly wipe his face of tears, but the flow of saltwater would not stop. Wally and I coming to his station sparked feelings inside of the man that he had tried to block away and never experience again. The sobs quickened and he put his hands on his face.

He let the tears flow at a rapid pace, the man dropped to his knees and just cried, cried away all of the pain of losing his daughter. A daughter who he loved and cared for more than anyone else on the Earth. Ripped away from him, with the utter of a single name.

"You want to know the worst part of it all?" Victor yells at us through his crying.

"The last thing that I ever got to say to my sweet, sweet Melissa is that her mother left me and her for some other man with tons of money. That was the last thing that I told my daughter, how her mother betrayed her and I for more money and a younger man. What do you think was going through her head after I told her that, and even through the duration of the Games? It was probably the last thing that she thought about before she killed herself. Maybe she would have won if I didn't tell her that. She might have gone through a depression and thought that eventually everyone would betray her, IT'S ALL MY FAULT!" His booming voice personified though the large gymnasium.

"VICTOR ENOUGH!" I yell at the once stable winner of the Hunger Games, who now weeps on the floor screaming out curses to himself and everyone involved with the Hunger Games.

Victor looks at me with puffy red eyes, red marks leading down his face to show where he was crying. He had snot running down his face to match the red marks coming out of his eyes. Some snot managing to go into his mouth after it passed over his large lips. He tried to calm and quite himself, but the sobs in the back of his throat would not allow him to do so.

"Listen to me, I too have had family taken away from me because of the Hunger Games. My brother Jason was beaten to death by a crowbar. How do you think that made me feel? I was only 9 _fucking _years old! Having to watch your brother being beaten to death by someone that he trusted. His district partner killed him and then just ran off. She didn't even feel the slightest ounce of remorse. She won that year and she even said that she enjoyed killing Jason. She said that she had planned it from the start, how she was brutally going to kill him, how she wanted to beat him until you could see his bones and his internal organs. I had to watch as his blood spewed on the ground. VICTOR I COULD SEE HIS SMALL INTESTON, it was spilled out on the ground along with his shed blood. She said that I was by far her favorite kill and she would do it again if she was given the chance. The only thing that she said that she would do differently would be to kill him much slower and let him feel the pain as he slowly died from the loss of blood."

My glimmering eyes go wide and I remember every single detail of the brutal death of my beloved brother come back to me.

* * *

"_Come on Jade, the District 7 boy is at the Cornucopia! I can see him on top of it hiding, let's get a move on." _

"_Change of plans Jay, I'm afraid I'm going to have to do it myself." _

_Suddenly Jason feels something hit the back of his head and he is reeling from a wicked headache. Jade is now standing over the 14 year old tribute from District 2 and she is laughing evilly, a proud smirk on her face. _

"_Jade what the fuck are you doing. I thought that we were on a team?" _

"_Key word is that we were on a team you retard. I no longer need you to do my dirty work. Did you actually think that kept you alive this long because I liked you? If that's so then you are a bigger idiot than I thought." Jade picks up Jason's arm and hits him in the elbow with her crow bar. An audible crack of bone was heard throughout the arena and Jason screamed out in pain and agony. _

_Jade then picks up Jason's other arm and repeats her previous action, breaking Jason's arm was no easy feat. But with the right amount of force the bone soon snapped in half._

"_Jade, PLEASE, stop this!" Jason was screaming out to the taller girl who only laughed and kicked him in his groin. Jason winced in pain and released a tear from his eye._

"_Wow, already crying huh pretty boy, how sad. Here I thought that you were the tough guy, well your pain has just started and I don't see it ending soon. Do you know how hard it was to act like I liked to, for this long?" Jade lowers herself to the ground and whispers in Jason's ear._

"_Well let me tell you pretty boy, it wasn't easy." Jason spits blood onto Jades face and she seethes with more rage. She suddenly picks up Jason's leg and twists it. Another audible pop and crack, signaling the breaking of his thigh bone, was heard and Jason screamed out in pain louder than he had ever screamed before. Tears were swelling in his eyes and his blood was smearing onto the snow covered grass. _

"_Scream for me Pretty Boy, let the world hear your cries for help. Too bad the people in the Capitol are chanting my name out in the sky; they love the blood you know. They can never get enough of their precious, scarlet liquid. To them it's more valuable than any money, gold, or clothing that anyone has to offer. Let me tell you Jay, I'm going to give them blood, so much blood that my name will be immortalized among them. They will never forget me—"_

"_Of course they won't forget you, you self-absorbed cunt! History doesn't always look too kindly on the people that are traitors, and you my friend, are the worst." Jason manages to choke out._

_Jade slams the crowbar down on his lungs. Hit after hit after hit. Blood begins to spew in every direction. It manages to land on Jade's face but she doesn't wipe it away. The only thing that she does is continue to bring the metal bar, now warmed with Jay's blood, onto the fourteen year olds chest. _

_She brings the bar to Jason's face and hits him across his cheek. She glances down on Jason's body and scans it, searching for something to hurt Jason more than ever before. She cackles evilly, almost as though she was excited to see this new found area to hurt the boy. _

_Once again, the tall girl from District 2 lifts up Jason's leg and she has a fit of uncontrollable laughter. She slams the crowbar down on the boy's knee and he screams out. This time his voice is raspy, his overused vocal cords were tired already from yelling out for Jade to stop her beatings, but it was all in vain. _

_Bring the bar back down on the poor boy's knee, Jade finally hears the snap that she was waiting for and laughs again, putting four fingers up to the camera who was just eating the death of Jason up. It was true; the people of the Capitol loved the blood, no matter how innocent a child was, as long as the people got their fill of bloodshed, they were happy. _

_Jade discarded the crowbar for a moment and pulled to knives out of her arsenal. _

"_This one is for my sister back at home, I know how you wanted someone to be stabbed and frankly I don't think that we had enough of that during this year's games!" Jade yelled to the camera, which zoomed in on her face. It was covered in blood and sweat, but at the moment she looked like she was the happiest person in the world. _

_She turned her attention back to the boy moaning on the ground below her and she gave a smirk of victory before hastily pushing the knife deep inside Jason's chest, running it across the boy's stomach, his moist guts spilling on the ground along with the snow and blood. _

_At an even faster pace, she brought the knife into Jason's thigh. Taking out another, blade she admires it but soon realizes that Jason was dying fast. She puts it back in her vest and picks the crowbar back up. _

"_Well Jason, have any last words?" Jade asked the boy on the ground, pinching his cheeks and she turned his face towards the camera who got a close up on how bloody and beaten the boy really was. _

_His cheeks were purple and bruised from where Jade had hit him. His two black eyes made the boy squint so much that one couldn't even see his beautiful blue orbs that once held so much laughter and joy. _

"_Yeah I do… you can all go FUCK YOURSELFS!" Jason manages to bark out one last word before Jade dropped him on the ground and spit on the boy._

"_Welcome to the Hunger Games, enjoy your stay." She laughed out evilly once more and ran to the District 7 boy who was watching the whole scene go down. _

_There was soon a canon announcing Jason's and the boy from seven's death._

* * *

"DICK!" Wally suddenly slapped my face. I was on my knees and was sobbing uncontrollably just like Victor. Wally had a death grip on around my torso, hugging me tightly to his body. I am shaking uncontrollably and I just lay in Wally's arms, drenching his shoulder with my tears. Wally strokes my back and whispers comforting words in my ear, reminding me of last night. He whispers about how he told me that he would never leave me, no matter what.

"Hey Dick?"

"Ye-Yeah Walls?" I manage to choke out to the muscular ginger who I've come to love so much.

"I'm always going to be here for you, just cry your little heart out. I'll be there to pick you back up." The ginger said to me, tears forming in his eyes. Once again he pulls me back into his arms and starts to cry on me. We are both sobbing uncontrollably and I turn my gaze to the taller male in front of me.

"Thank you Wally. I-I really need someone to be there for me. Jason should have seen it coming, I mean the girl already killed the two other tributes from 1, he even helped her. I just….." My eyes begin to tear up once more. I fall into Wally's embrace and begin to sob again.

"Shhhhhh, Dick it's okay. You will get past this, just try to forget and—"

"How can you say that Wally? I will never be able to forget what that girl did Jay, she took my brother away from me! And you know the absolute worst part of it all Wally?!"

"Tell me Dick, let me help you through this."

"She was praised for it, not just in the Capitol; all of those people are brutal. But in my own District, cheers were given to her because she made one of the best games that the President had ever seen. Not a single tear was given to Jay outside of my own home and maybe Barbara's. She took my brother away from me and was congratulated for it. People say that was the best Hunger Games ever because she used her charm and flirtatious attitude to bring sponsors and tributes alike, to their knees. Jay trusted that monster and she turns around and gives him a savage death, not even a quick on, but a slow, painful one." Tears are pouring down my face and I am still locked in Wally's arms. They are warm and so full of love, but I am going through too much pain to really appreciate that he is still here for me.

"Dick, listen to me you have to move on. If you let this effect you for this long, she wins. You can't let this keep hurting you; you've got to let it make you stronger."

"You don't understand Wally, no one does. Not even Bruce. I've never told anyone this but one day while we were in class, the teacher was teaching us how to wow the crowd. She said that we had a special guest, lo and behold, the girl that killed my brother walks in. She says her hellos and then looks at me, with those big green eyes and smiles. Wally this was no apologetic smile, she gave me one of those smiles that say 'I-killed-your-family-and-it-was-so-much-fun' type of smiles. It made me so distraught that I ran out of the classroom crying. It took my friend Roy an hour to get me out of the bathroom, and he was in a whole different wing of the building. Not long after I came back did she say that she wanted to talk to me."

People are looking at me and laughing, I couldn't give a damn though. All I cared about was what Wally thought of me after our conversation. The Gamesmakers were laughing too.

_He's going to think I'm weak, just like everyone else. Because that's what I am, weak, pathetic and weak. _

"What did she say to you, Dick?" Wally had rapid tears falling down his face, I guess from my sadness.

"She whispered in my ear and said 'Killing your brother was the most riveting feeling in the entire world. If I could do it again I would. I just wish I could go back in time and watch the whole scene go over again. Of course I wouldn't kill him so fast, I would have just used the crowbar and hit him the chest. That's what I would have done. I saw the way you ran out when you saw me and let me tell you that you are just like Jason, weak and don't deserve to live.' After she told me that I wanted to cry and murder her at the same time. I wanted to cry because everything she was saying about me was true, but on the flipside no one talks about Jason like that. But what could I do, trying to harm a victor is punishable by death, not just to you. But to your whole family."

I am no longer crying, the tears seemed to have stopped. I had run out of tears and the time for crying was over. Wally however is just balling in the crook of my neck.

"Dick, I'm so sorry. I wish there was something that I could do to help."

"There is something that I can do, just be there for me and don't ever talk bad about my family. Also don't betray me during the games." I tell Wally, it might have sounded like a joke but I was being completely serious when I told Wally not to betray me.

"Never, I like you too much to do that. Now come on, let's get cleaned up and then go learn how to do first-aid."

Wally stands up and extends his arm to help me; I gladly take it and look at all the eyes around me. Megan looks like she is about to cry (the softy), the District 12 girl is rolling around on the floor having a laughing fit along with the girl from 11. It seems that those two girls formed an alliance over the hatred from me and Wally. The rest of the tributes are either laughing or just in a state of shock. All but the District 11 boy, he's standing a little too close to Megan and has a blank expression on his face. If I had to name it something, I would call it grumpy.

"I guess we attracted a crowd, again." Wally says to me, wiping a tear out of his eyes, then using his sleeve to wipe his nose of snot running down his face.

"Yeah well none of them really bother me; I mean most of them will be dead before the first day is over. The only three that I'm really worried about is the girl and boy from 11 and the slut from 12."

"The girl from 11? She seems harmless to me, you're just paranoid, she's weak look at her." We both turn our attention to the dark haired girl from 11 who was talking, at the moment, to Megan.

"Let's go look and see what they are talking about; I hope that Megan doesn't touch her. Last time that I did that, I almost fainted. There is something wrong with that girl."

"What do you mean you almost fainted? What did she do to you?" I could tell that Wally was getting a little bit angry and protective over me. I smile to myself and walk over, out of sight of Megan and Zatanna.

"Now this is how I listened to your conversation with that girl, Wally. Just look like you're doing something and try not to draw their attention. Split your focus and listen to the girls."

"Alrightly then, that doesn't sound so hard."

We both look at the two girls engaging in small talk, and I put my guard up. Grabbing a knife off of the table beside of me just in case anything went south. Acting like I was learning how to tie a knot, I watch as the girl extends her hand to Megan's.

_ "Evie em eht tcirtsid eno s'lrig amsirahc dna mrahc!" _

I try and toss the knife, but before it even leaves my hand, Wally catches my arm. I look up at him questioning what he was doing. He points over to where Megan and Zatanna were standing. I look over and see the dark haired witch lying on the ground. She looked purely petrified; her district partner was standing over her. His icy blue eyes filled with fury.

"Never touch her again; I don't care if you are from my district. I will kill you!" The tall boy from District 11 tells the girl lying on the ground, shaking from her fear. He spits on the girl's face and she tries to stand up but the boy grabs her dark, ebony locks and pins her to the wall.

"Get your hands off of me! _Ekam eht gib yob mor-_"

The boy from 11 suddenly grabs her by the throat and is strangling her. She is squirming in his hold but she is like a ragdoll in his arms, however no amount of struggle or pushing on the strong boy could stop him from trying to kill her.

Her face is almost purple before Megan steps in to save the poor girl being killed before the slaughter even started.

"Conner, enough! THAT'S ENOUGH CONNER! Let her go!" Megan shouts at the large male from District 11.

Conner drops the girl to the ground and she begins to cough and suck in air at an accelerated pace. She rubs her neck and there were large purple marks forming around her throat. She regains her composure and runs off before Conner could do anymore damage to her.

I exchange a glance with Wally and we rush over to where Megan was rubbing a distraught Conner's back, trying her best to calm him down.

"It's okay Conner, she can't hurt me anymore. You saved me, thank you for that. Hey look here come my friends." Megan smiles at Wally and I as we run over to comfort her.

"You guys I want you to meet Conner. Conner this is Dick and Wally, Wally and Dick this is Conner." Megan tells me with a sweet smile on her lips.

"Oh trust me, we've met. But hey, thanks for saving Megan, I guess I owe you one. And I'm sorry for paralyzing you; I didn't want you to hurt that little boy for something that we did." I extend my hand and Conner shakes it. It looked like my apology worked.

"So it was you two that tried to blow me up, guess I should have seen that coming. That little boy was pathetic." Conner still looks grumpy

"Come on guys it's lunch time and I'm starving! Dick let's go before all the good food is gone." Wally takes hold of my arm and jerks me toward the cafeteria; we were followed by Megan and Conner.

**A/N: Sorry this took me so long, I tried to make it a long chapter. I had a lot of things to do these few weeks and I've not been able to work on it much. Personally I think this chapter is crap, but I hope that everyone reading this will like it. Reviews would be heavily appreciated so I know what to work on in the future in order to make this story better. Also I wanted Zatanna to look more evil because she looks so sweet in the show, so I gave her amber/red eyes. **


	5. My Apology

Okay guys, I am so so so so sorry that I haven't updated since August. I'll try and get the next chapter out but I'm having a bit of a hard time. You see I have all the ideas ready for when the tributes are in the games, and trust me it's going to be gruesome and just amazing. SPOLIER ONE GIRL GETS SCALPED. But writing my way in there is very hard. And add that to my bitch of a chemistry teacher who thinks its okay to give us 4 projects all at once with 2 formal lab reports on the side. I haven't had too much time to work on this story but it has to come second to school I'm sorry . But if you guys have any ideas ill be happy to put them in the story if I can fit them in. I love everyone who even tries to read this attempt to contribute to the fandom. Please I'm almost done with the chapter and I even put a flashback in there with Roy. IM SO SORRY I HOPE Y'ALL CAN FORGIVE ME.


	6. The Scores

Training Part 2/ The Scores

"_Roy I can't do this. Only one comes out. Have you seen the people from District 11, they're huge. They will break me in half like a toothpick." Tears are rolling down my face as I embrace Roy in a spine crushing hug. _

_He slaps me across the face with his hand leaving a red print of fingers on my cheek. _

"_Dick listen to me, if anyone can win the games it's you and Babs! Have you seen the way that girl can throw an axe? She kicks pretty hard too, but that's not the point. The point is that you are going to come out of there with a crown on your head."_

"_But Ro—"_

"_Fucking shut up with the doubting yourself. You're right, Jason died in the games because some bitch thought it would be funny to trick him and then beat him to death. You're not him, you aren't stupid, and you don't trust people easily. Look, just kill whoever gets in your way and don't let people walk all over you. Dick, I've seen the way you can throw a knife. Anything sharp that you throw will always land on target, in my opinion, you're better than Clove. And she's as fucking deadly as an avalanche, maybe even worse."_

_He was still hugging tightly to me, my fingers sticking into his back like sharp nails being hammered into a wooden plank. There was a silence between us; the tears were coming down my face and on to his shoulder. _

"_Stop crying, Dick you can do this. Just do three things and you are sure to win, don't trust anyone, kill the weak in the bloodbath, and break away from the careers when it comes down to the final eight. You understand me? Just try to win okay; I can't deal with losing you right now, not another person that I care about."_

"_I promise Roy, I'll try to win, just don't do anything illegal while I'm gone okay buddy" _

_I wipe my eyes with my sleeve and laugh a little while Roy pats me on the back. _

"_Time's up, time to get out." The peacekeeper told Roy with a serious expression on his face. He grabs Roy, who immediately pushes him to the ground and kicks him in his face with his boot. He then walks over to me._

"_Just. Don't. Die." He tells me with an almost angry look running across his face. I could see the tears forming in his eyes, but he would never cry in front of me, especially today of all days._

_The peacekeeper is now standing back up, grabbing Roy with much more force than last time. He yanks Roy out of the furnished room and into the lobby of the justice building. All I can hear from that point on is metal beating against skin. The peacekeeper was out there beating Roy up, but hey I would have beat someone up too if they had just threw me on the ground and kicked me in the face. But still it didn't stop me from flinching every time I heard the horrid noise._

_The noise soon stopped and I assumed that they dragged Roy outside to publicly humiliate him. _

_I hear the door open and I look to see Bruce standing in the doorway, looking anything but happy._

"_Dick….. I-I'm so sorry this happened to you. I promise I will get you as many sponsors as possible. Anything to keep you alive." _

_I rush over to where the large man is standing and wrap my arms around him. He seemed to be doing worse than I was; his usual serious expression that he was always wearing was gone. It was replaced with something that Bruce never showed, fear. _

"_Bruce, I can do it, I can win. Roy gave me a lot of advice. I won't be like Jason, I will come back to you, I'll come home, and we will be happy again. I will make you proud Bruce, I promise."_

_His arms found his way around my torso and squeezed me tightly to his large chest muscles. _

"_You always make me proud, just please come home ok. I don't care about Babs, it would be great if she came home but my biggest worry is you. Do not let anyone intimidate you. You're better than they are. When you're in the games, just remember one thing." _

_He pauses, trying to collect his thoughts. A tear rolling down his clean face._

"_Remember what, Bruce?"_

"_That I will always love you and I would probably die inside if you are killed in there, just please come home."_

_Bruce was now crying, he was acting way out of character and it made me want to tear up too because I was witnessing a rare event. The toughest guy in the entire district was in tears because of me. He never showed any emotion, ever. _

"_I swear, I won't go, at least without a fight."_

"_No, you won't go _

"_Whatever it takes."_

"_To get back to where you belong, with me."_

"_Time's up, time to leave sir." _

"_Well Dad, I guess this is the last time that I will see you before I step off of the returning train."_

I jerk out of my sleep by the painful dream of leaving my home; my district. There was a warm body next to mine that was hogging the silk blankets that were covering our bodies, well his body.

Wally was laying sideways in his slumber, snoring loudly. It was amazing that I ever got any rest with how loud the ginger was in his sleep. I took some of the covers that were on top of the pale white boy and put them over myself. I turn to the clock that was resting on the nightstand and looked at it for a good minute before I knew that trying to get to sleep at this hour was futile. The games were to start in two days and I was more nervous than ever before. Who would die, who would survive? People who have no skills, what so ever, have won the games on more occasions than one.

"I have to win; I have to return to Bruce and Roy." I mutter to myself as I walk to the large bay window that show all the people of the Capitol shouting at buildings, screaming out their favorite tributes names.

I lay myself on the cushions that were placed in the windowsill, and just gaze out remembering the night that I left District 2.

_All these people are counting on me to win, expecting me to._

_ I can't even see myself winning, I'm not victor material._

_ Barbara, she's victor material if I ever saw any. _

_ And sweet Megan, she knows how to kill people with the flick of her wrist._

_ What about Wally…_

Suddenly there was a rustling of sheets and a creek of the bed behind me. I look over and I see Wally standing behind me, his arms folded over his bare chest.

"What's on your mind, Dick?"

"I'm just thinking about all the people back at home, cheering for me. Hoping that I come back, expecting me to."

"How many are rooting for you?"

"Two, but they are really important to me, so more like two thousand. What about you, how many are rooting for you?"

Wally's face suddenly saddened and he moved to sit on the other side of the windowsill.

"None, my parents…. They couldn't care less whether I make it out of here or not. The games couldn't be anything worse than what I go through at home."

"What happened at your home?" I ask Wally, scared and surprised by his sudden response.

"Well my dad had anger issues, he always beats me. I mean I've come to just take the beating; it makes it so much easier. When I struggle, it just escalates to where I can't move for days. That's how bad it is at my house. As for my mother, well she just sits there and watches him do it. She never says or does anything to try and stop him. She just sits there, watching and in my opinion she is worse than my father."

"Well just know that I'm here for you Wally and hey if some brilliant turn of events; we both can win. You can come live with me, Bruce, and Roy back in good ol' District 2."

"Thanks Dick, and hopefully the President will allow us to both win, because right now you're the most important part of my life."

I move over to lay my head on Wally's lap and he immediately runs his hand through my hair, and it felt amazing.

"Dick I have a question."

"Ask away buddy."

"Who's Roy, you talk about him a lot?"

I pick my head up off Wally's lap and move to lie on top of him completely. I look into his beautiful emerald green eyes and smile to myself.

"He's my best friend back home. You see I'm not the most popular or friendly person and people don't really take a liking to me. Actually I hate all the fucking cunts at my school because they are so judgmental. Roy and Barbara are really the only friends that I have, but you see Roy and I have both been through similar experiences, we both lost our parents to the Capitol. He's my confident and basically my brother, plus he's a ginger; and if you haven't already noticed, I love gingers."

"Well I'm glad to see that I don't have any competition, now let's go back to bed, I'm tired."

"Try not to snore to loud this time; I really need to sleep tonight. I defiantly won't be sleeping tomorrow night, that's for sure."

"That is something that we can both agree on little man."

I crawl into the bed and Wally wraps his arms around me and pulls me in close. Once my head hits the pillow, I am sound asleep.

* * *

"Wally we should probably learn how to swim, I mean what if the arena is water based? Then we're screwed, and drowning is really not a pleasant way to die."

"No way man, I'm not getting into that pool. I mean if there's water I'm sure that Raquel or Kaldur we be happy to come and save us if we're in trouble."

"Right but there is two problems with that plan, West. One, all the other tributes will have taken all the stuff and gotten away if we were to rely on Raquel and Kaldur. Two, I really don't want to put trust into people that I don't really know."

"I'm not getting in the pool."

"Wally!"

"Dick."

"Wally I am going to count to three and if you are not in that pool by three, I will personally push you in myself."

"But I don't want to get in, it's going to be cold and I don't want people to laugh at me flailing around in the water like an idiot."

"Really Wally, you would rather die than look like an idiot and learn how to swim?"

"So you do understand my dilemma."

"Wally, get in the pool!"

"No."

"Please, for me?" I put on the best cute/begging face that I could manage. I stick my lower lip out to form a pout. This works on Bruce all the time.

"Please, you think that face works on me….. Ok it works a little but I am still not getting in that water."

"One."

"Dick, it's not going to work. You can't get me in the water."

"Two."

"Seriously man, I'm not getting in."

"Three."

"Nope."

I run up to the stubborn ginger and give him a heavy shove into the water. But before he falls in, he grabs my arm and pulls me into the freezing cold water with him.

When the water hits me, it's like I'm skinny dipping in a lake during the middle of winter. Goosebumps appear on my arms and legs and my teeth clatter underneath the water. I resurface from the freezing cold liquid and I see Wally flailing his arms around trying to say above the water.

"Wally."

"Dick, Oh God! We're sinking, this is where we die!"

"Wally."

"Dick I don't think that you understand, we're going to die in this pool—"

"WALLY JUST STAND UP!"

"Wait what?"

"We're in the shallow end you idiot, just stand up."

"Oh."

"You didn't think that I would toss you into the deep end without you knowing how to swim, did you?"

"Of course not, I was just having a panic attack. I totally trust you, do you trust me?"

"I don't trust anyone Wally, but I trust you as much as I trust Babs. So that must be something."

Wally's face fell and he turned away from me. I really hurt the big guy's feelings.

I walk over to Wally, the water slowing down my pace. He was turned in a corner and he had his face down looking at the water. I pull on his shoulder and wrap my arms around his shirtless chest, a small blush creeping on my face.

"It's not that I don't trust you Wally, the games, they change people. If I start trusting people now I will be destroyed. I would trust you with all my heart outside of the games, but we aren't out of the games. We haven't even gone into them. Look, I can't even trust Babs at this point, but I trust you over her right now."

I am still hugging Wally, rubbing his back to make him stop being so sad. There is a comfortable pause between Wally and I and we just stand in the water. Wally was clinging tightly to me, afraid that if he let go; I would go too.

"Listen Dick, I'm not going to hurt you, ever. This might come as a shock to you but…..I-I think that I may be in love with you." Wally's face had a scarlet blush covering his beautiful freckles.

"Wally I—"

"Dick, Wally what are you guys doing?" Barbara Gordon shouts at Wally and I who were still hugging. She gets close to the water and squats trying to get a better view of us.

"Babs, what are you doing here? I thought the lady kicked you out." I tell my district partner, releasing Wally. Much to the older boy's protest.

"I killed her, that's how I got back in, duh." Babs tells me, a look of pure seriousness on her face.

"You WHAT?!" I shout at the red-haired girl who didn't even seem fazed by her actions. I turn to Wally who looks truly shocked; his mouth was agape, green eyes wide open.

"Babs, you can't just kill people that you don't like. What were you thinking?"

"Aww but you did it, back on the train."

"That was totally different, Brutus had it coming. All this lady did to you was kick you out of her training hall."

"And that's not grounds for murder?"

"OF COURE NOT!"

"Hey Dick, you want to know the worst part of all of this?"

"No Barbara, I really don't."

"The fact that I am just kidding, the lady is standing over there watching you two love birds hug it out. You guys need to learn how to take a joke. Hahaha but Wally, your face is priceless!" Barbara laughs at Wally for a good minute before she finally calms herself and stands up.

"Babs, that's not cool. You gave me a heart attack!" I tell the girl as I hop out of the water to receive the towel that she handed me.

"I'm going to go say hey to Megan, try not to have too much fun while I'm gone ok, Dickie." She smiles and runs to martial-arts station to greet Megan.

"Dude, your friend is one twisted chick. Like seriously what is wrong with her?"

"That my freckled friend is something that I have been trying to figure out for years." There was an awkward silence between Wally and I. Wally scratches the back of his head and I grab my arm.

"About earlier Dick." Wally finally breaks the silence and walks closer toward me. His towel was around his neck and he was blushing again.

"Wally, can we talk about this later? I mean…. I don't know how I feel, but I might feel something similar. We'll discuss this when we get back to the room, ok man."

I looked at the pouting ginger and he knew that I was right; this was not the time and place to talk about love.

Babs walks back over to us and I can tell she can feel the awkward tension between me and Wally. She was not helping the matter either, with her snide comments and upright sarcastic attitude about the whole situation, it made me want to punch her in the face and then rip out her throat.

"So Wally are you ready for tonight?" I ask the ginger; trying my best to ignore the annoying red head beside me.

"When we can finally talk about the fact that I'm madly in love with you. Yes, yes I am."

"No you idiot, and I told you we would be talking about that tonight back in the room so cool your jets. I was talking about getting your score, what are you going to do? Well obviously not swim."

"I'm going to throw spears Dick, duh that's what I've practiced."

"You're a dork you know that West."

"Shut up Dick, you love me anyways!"

I would probably not admit it to the ginger, even tonight. But I couldn't deny the fact that the red headed boy had captured my heart.

* * *

"Now listen to me you two, they are going to judge you. They are going to judge you so hard because you are from District 2, a career district. Give them everything you've got and don't hold back, the whole country is waiting for this moment in the games. This score will basically determine whether or not you win the games, so you need to make a good impression." Clove puts her hand on my shoulder, and looks me deep in the eyes. Her dark eyes were so full of seriousness and fear. She actually thought that one of us might screw up in the training session.

We were walking to the training center, having already exited the elevator. Since Babs and I were from District 2, I would be going 3rd and 4th.

"Babs, I assume that you are going to be throwing axes? And Dick, you're throwing knives correct?" The sixteen year old victor asks Barbara and I.

"Yeah that's pretty much it; don't really know how to do much else as well as throwing axes. Well I do but not as well considering my perfect scores on all my tests at school for this."

"Well do what you do best and try to get the best score that you can manage. Usually District 2 has the best scores out of all the tributes; District 1 usually bests us when it comes to the interviews however."

Clove leads us down the long, concrete hallway. We continue walking until we reach a steel gate with a bench beside of it.

"You guys wait here until your names are called, that's when you guys go in and show them everything you've got, okay? I think the District 1 boy is still in there so it won't take more than 5 minutes or so."

"We've got it." I tell Clove, my palms getting all sweaty. I was beginning to get very nervous and it showed.

"Bar-bara Gor-don." The computerized woman voice called out. Barbara gets up and approaches the steel gate that rises when she gets close to it. She disappears into the darkness and the gate shut behind her.

It takes about 5 to 10 minutes before my name is finally called out by the computer lady.

"Rich-ard Gray-son."

I slowly approach the gate, over the last five or so minutes I had been overthinking this whole scoring thing. My breathing was faster and heavier, I was chewing my nails down to their nubs.

I walk through the gate and arrive at an empty training center, the only people who accompanied me where the Gamesmakers who were watching my every move with fierce determination. Seneca Crane and his perfectly shaved beard had his eyes focused solely on me. It seemed as though he was trying to figure what direction I would be traveling to. 'What weapon will he pick?' Is what the youthful head Gamesmaker was probably thinking.

I walk up to the throwing knives and pick them up, one in each hand. I walk to the throwing station and wait for the targets to make themselves appear in front of me. The green light signaling that the targets would be popping out.

The first one makes its way out in front of my face and I release the knife from my hand, it landed right in between the two eyes of the target.

A second target appears out of nowhere and immediately my instincts made me release the knife from my fingertips. This knife I saw flying through the air at an agonizingly slow pace. I watched its metal blade flip and fly through the air as it spiraled towards its target on the metal piece of machinery that was causing the targets to move. This knife landed on the heart of the target, logging deep into the material that the Capitol makes its targets out of.

Quickly as I could maneuver, I move to grab two more knives off the table and I see the last target go off.

I fling the last two knives towards the target, the knives, flipping and spinning gracefully through the air; they both land on the head of the target. A perfect bulls-eye.

I look over to where the Gamemakers are sitting and I see pure and utter shock written all over their faces. If I had to guess what they were thinking, it would probably be along the lines of how a small little boy like myself could manage to have perfect aim and precision like I just demonstrated. But it bothered me a little that they had not learned that good things come in small packages.

"Knife throwing will not be the only thing that I will be performing. I would also like to do some gymnastic exercises." I call out to the grown men and avoxes staring at me.

I walk over to the large balance beam in the training center, and put my hands on it pulling myself up gracefully. Before I let my feet hit the ground, I am in a frog-like position on the beam, legs sticking straight out making a 'v' inclosing my hands. I menuver my legs to do a perfect handstand on the concrete beam. I fling my legs forward to do a forward walkover and then create a complete spit on top of the small area I had to work my magic. Without using my hands, I pull up from the split and walk to the farthest point that I could get on the beam and breathed heavily to myself. I bend my back backwards and fling my legs in the air; I can feel my hands leave the concrete. I could feel myself flying and I felt totally in my element. I did a total backflip, you know, the kind where your legs are totally straight not bent in the slightest. The hardest kind, and executed it perfectly. Finishing off my short little routine, I do two back handsprings off the beam and then a double back flip to stick the landing. To say that the Gamesmakers were impressed was an understatement.

"Peace out bitches!" I yell out as I exit the scoring center.

* * *

"As you know, the tributes are scored based on their performances throughout these two weeks. 1 is the lowest, whereas 12 is the highest that a tribute can score. Here are the scores."

I turn my face to Wally, who was sitting extremely close to me, our legs kind of tangled. But he wasn't sitting close enough to raise any suspicion from the other people in the room.

Barry Allen, whose blonde hair was jelled back perfectly. It matched his crimson tuxedo with a little bit of yellow meshed in with it. He began to read the names off of the papers he had in front of him.

"Megan Morse, with a score of 9."

"Wally West, with a score of 11." I elbow bump Wally and give him a soft smile.

"Barbra Gordon, with a score of 11."

"Dick Grayson, with a score of 12." Shock is all that is on my face at the time, nothing else processes. Why had they given me that score? All I did was throw knives and jump on a beam.

"Tina Tellurium, with a score of 5."

"Johnson Grives, with a score of 7."

"Kaldur Peste, with a score of 10."

"Raquel Rakieta, with a score of 10."

Barry reads down the list of names, most of the score were very unimpressive; one girl even got a 1. Then he gets to the girl from District 11.

"Zatanna Zutara, with a score of 3." Something is not right, but all I knew was that Wally and I were going to have to watch our backs; this girl was up to something, she was a witch after all and we knew that much.

"Connor Kent, with a score of 8."

"Zachary Fink, with a score of 5. That's all folks, you heard it from us, Clark Kent and Barry Allen signing off. Happy Hunger Games and may odds be ever in your favor."

The holographic projection on the wall faded away. I looked over at Wally who looked pretty smug with this year's score readings.

"We can win this you know; those kids will be dead within the first day. How the hell do you even manage to get a 1, you have to do practically nothing at all." Wally had his hands up in the air waving them. I guess he was trying to give emphasis to how frustrated he was because he was fuming.

"Wally calm down, it's okay you can kill her in the arena if that will make you happy."

"Well you guys, I'm going to bed, Wally come on. We have things to discuss. Goodnight everyone."

I walk into the bed room and shut the door once Wally walks in behind me.

"Can we finally talk about the fact that I love you now!" Wally asks me putting his hands on my shoulders and shaking me furiously.

"Yes Wally we can! Truth is I think I am in love with you too, however that really petrifies me."

"Why are you scared being in love with me Dick, I promise I'm not a douse bag."

"Wally it's not anything like that, in two days we're are going to be trying to kill each other. I don't want to get close to someone and then have them ripped away from me. It's hard enough with Babs I don't want to lose another person that I care about too."

"Dick you said you already started caring about me, so what is telling me and admitting that you love me going to change huh? I understand that you have trust issues, but you can't just push people out of your life that want to be there!"

"Don't take it too personally, I do it to everyone. It makes my life easier."

"Dude, do you even realize how lonely that will make your life? Why can't you just let me love you? I really care about you Dick!"

"Because when you let people into your life, they just take advantage of you and when they don't need you anymore they toss you aside like you're nothing!" At this point I'm yelling at Wally, standing on the top of my toes trying to prove my point to him.

Suddenly, Wally grabs me by the shoulders once again and yanks me into a strong and powerful kiss. He walks us over to the bed, his lips still on mine not moving but in that moment I could feel every ounce of love that the ginger had for me.

He pushes me on the bed and he looks into my eyes with his emerald ones and just stares at me.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I swear, and if there ever comes a day when I do. I give you my permission to kill me in the most painful way possible."

I reach up and hug the ginger as we lay there in each other's arms as we fall asleep on the bed.

**Author's note:**

**Okay so I'm finally out of Chemistry and I can start writing more, my classes are so easy this semster however I do have English and I dont quite know how much writing that my teacher gives so we will see. I hope that you guys like it. :)**


	7. The Arena

**The Arena**

**Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to update this, I've been so busy and I honestly think that this chapter is shit. Anyways I added one of my favorite characters in DC comics in this so I hope I didn't botch her up to badly. I tried to make her as sexy as possible. Please review I love constructive criticism. Hope you guys like it. I don't own any of the characters. ****  
**

* * *

The platform rises from the locker room where we all got to say our last good byes to our stylists. We emerge out of tubes to see a giant city surrounding us. The cornucopia seems to be inside of a park, an abandoned park. The only people that were here are the tributes on the platforms. I could hear the countdown over my thinking….

_60_

_59_

_58_

_57_

_56_

_55_

_54_

_53_

_52_

_51_

_50_

"_**TEG EM FFO FO SIHT MROFTALP WON!" **_The dark haired which exclaims out to the sky. A pink bubble forms over her and she dashes off of the platform. It explodes but Zatanna is completely fine, as was expected; however, what happens next surprises even me. The dark haired girl with amber eyes rushes to the nearest knife and plunges it into her arm. She twists and digs the knife deep into her skin and muscle while screaming in agony and pain. Crimson blood draws and gushes onto green grass of the abandoned park.

She finally removes the knife, along with her tracker, which she crushes inside her hand. I watch the girl closely, ready to pounce when the clock strikes 0.

"I am not just a piece in their games, I am not their pawn. _Laeh ym sdnuow!" _

Suddenly the bleeding hole in the girl's arm was shutting, the blood wiping away to revel a completely healed arm of the pale witch. She licked up her arm and tasted the dried blood and smiled with that evil grin on her face. She was as deadly as she was insane.

_7_

_6_

_5_

_4_

_3_

"_**Pots eht kcolc!" **_The spell froze the clock, and accordingly us. We were sitting ducks.

"I'm going to kill you freak, if you don't let me off this fucking platform!" A boy from District 5 yells out. He had a ready stance; he wanted her dead almost as much as I did. But I knew not to attack the witch, she was too powerful to bring down. I would have to watch and wait for my chance to strike.

"Come and get it." The witch cackled out with a thundering laugh. Her white teeth showing.

"Is that a threat bitch?" He yelled out

"Sorry hon that's a death wish….. _Niap__**!**_" Her booming voice was amplified through the park. For the third time that I've ever seen the mysterious girl, her wide eyes glowed a powerful red and her hair began floating off of her shoulders. The district 5 boy dropped to his knees and screamed a most horrid scream. All of his veins were popping out and one could hear his bones being turned with his body in abnormal places. He then proceeded to float off of the ground and his back bent in the sky. The cracking of the boy's spine was just a distraction to the green lights that were emitting out of his heart. But he wasn't dead yet, that would have been too easy for her. She wanted him to suffer. No one challenges her and lives to tell about it.

I look over to the witch and all I can see is the floating ebony locks, the glowing red eyes, and the look of pure joy and utter delight on her pale face.

The boy was still in the sky screaming out curses and cries for help with his raspy voice but it was all in vain. But something else was happening to the boy, something awful. His neck was suddenly sent flying backward until it almost touched his back. His Adam's apple was sticking straight up in the sky. His arms were being twisted and I saw his elbow break completely in half. Screams from the boy were not enough to personify the amount of anguish and agony that he was going through. He started to cry and I watched each individual tear fall from his face onto the cold metal platform.

The witch raises her hand and creates a ball with it. This time she was attacking the boy's legs. His knees began to wobble in the air, and in that instant I saw both of the boy's knees completely shatter. You could ask me how I could even see that through his skin, but I would never be able to tell you how it happened. Then his legs arched backward and snapped in half just like his elbows, bringing more tears to the poor tribute's eyes. The ebony haired girl with amber eyes was going to break this guy in half if it was the last thing that she did.

Louder than I thought possible, the boy screamed out again. But this time it was halted, his lips were being molded together by some form of magic. In almost an instant, I couldn't distinguish where his face stopped and where his lips began. His mouth was completely gone.

"You asked for this boy, you're nothing and you will never be anything. I'm going to wipe your face from history." She gave a wicked cackle and evil grin. She turned her head to the side and looked at me. The smirk that was written on her face told me that I was of a lot of interest to her. Freaky shit.

Suddenly there was crack of bones, louder than any gunshot I've ever heard. The boys head was level with his feet. He was making an arch; his back was bent farther than even I could contort myself. This was not a natural position that this girl was pushing upon the disfigured boy. She just snapped his back in two.

"Stop it please!" The District 5 girl yelled out crying. She was horrified and you could tell it on her face.

The boy fell on the platform which had already exploded when the witch lifted him in the air. He lay dead, motionless and cold. The only thing keeping him alive in the air was the green magic coming out of his heart. Since it was gone, so was the boy.

The witch turned her gaze to the District 5 girl who had spoken out against her magic.

"How noble of you, would you like a taste of what he had?" The witch asked the girl with a blank expression that had a little bit of irritation on it. She turned her head to the side and concentrated on the pale Caucasian girl, who began screaming in fear.

"NO PLEASE!" The girl screamed out in agony as the witch directed her gaze at the girl. The blonde tribute dropped to her knees and let out a sonic boom of a scream. Not muttering a spell or enchantment to make the pain increase, the witch just stared at the girl. To say that I was scared would be an understatement. The girl was on her knees begging for mercy, screaming out to the sky for help, and all the witch did was turn her head.

"I'll see you kids later." The witch winked at us and in a flash she was gone and the clock was rolling as usual.

The clock strikes zero and I wasn't ready, my body said move, but my mind… It was mesmerized by the witch's power. 'How can someone be that powerful? How would I beat her? Why didn't I see this coming?' I looked over at the boy on the ground, his body was mangled and he was twisted in crazy positions. It made me want to vomit all over the arenas' emerald grass.

'Speaking of emerald green, Wally's eyes match this shade…' I thought to myself.

"Grayson get your ass over here you're missing all the action!" Babs yelled across the park as she decapitated the District 6 girl. Barbara had the girl by her ponytail; she slammed the girls face into the ground and cleanly swiped the axe across her neck which was already broken from the treatment it was getting from Barbara Gordon. Barbara had an angry look on her face, she was out for blood, and she lived for the sport, no better than a Capitol citizen.

I dashed towards the battle ground, my feet moving a rapid pace trying to finish the rest off before they could run into the city. Suddenly one boy swings at me with his sword and I'm right in the line of fire. However right before the blade hits me I drop to my knees and slide right underneath it. I do a flip to get back to my feet and tackle the boy to the ground. I stare right into his big brown eyes. He looked absolutely mortified, and I almost felt guilty for doing it. _Almost._

I remove the boy's sword from his hand and plunge it into his scull drawing the red velvet blood that I had been after. I twist the blade around inside of his head making sure that he would not be coming back to life ever again. I then hop off of the boy and race to the back packs, looking for the knives.

A girl sprints after me, she looked determined to rip me apart piece by piece. Her sea blue eyes went perfectly with her golden blonde hair. The girl was very beautiful and one might even think she could be as beautiful as Megan or Babs. It was the girl whose district partner had been killed by the witch.

She slams me to the ground, spear in her hand. She was a giant 5 10 and she was sitting right on top of me. She gave me an apologetic smile, as if she was sorry that she had to do this. In a different life we could have probably been friends, but due to the circumstances, those odds were impossible.

She brings her spear up to impale me with it and suddenly, I feel nothing, I just stare into her blue orbs. I stared at her, she stared at me.

She begins to bring the spear down and I continue to feel absolute nothing, however when I think that she has done the deed. I look over to see that she has been knocked off of me, with an arrow in her head; blood gushing.

The blonde girl from the training center now strattled my waist, cackling with those evil grey daggers she called eyes. In the district 5 girl's eyes, I could see kindness and love hidden inside of her soul. But with this girl, what was her name, Artemis maybe? Her eyes were full of hate and anger against anyone that crossed her.

"What's the matter gay boy, scared?" She laughs at her joke and hops off of me. Then she proceeds to stomp on my gut. I moan and clutch my chest, rolling on the ground.

"I'm not going to kill you right now bitch shit talker." She moves down to whisper in my ear.

"Me and my girl have something planned for you and boyfriend over there." She runs off into the city leaving me lying on the, now warm ground.

Wally rushes over to me to give me a lift off of the ground. "What was that about dude?" Wally asks me, stroking my cheek and checking for any damage done to my body. I give him a smile and pick up the knives that were lying beside of me.

No sooner than I had the knife in my hand did a large boy from an outlying district come charging at Wally, whose back was turned to the menace. I grasp the sharp blade in my hand, the sunlight reflecting off of the shiny metal.

"Wally DUCK!" I yell out to the ginger who jumped at my sudden outburst. He dropped to the ground and sent my blade flying. It landed right where I wanted it too, right between the big boy's eyes. He fell to the ground, bleeding out of his head. The knife was logged deep into his cranium.

"Don't think that he's coming back dude, and hey nice shot!" Wally gives me a big smile and picks up the spear of the dead girl laying at our feet, another boy comes running at me. When he tries to throw a punch at my back, I grab his arm and hold it with my arm pit. Once I know that he isn't going anywhere, I lift my leg up to kick him in the face and then put my leg behind me to kick him in the gut. When the blonde boy is on the ground, I deliver the final blow and stab him in the head with my knife.

Wally takes my hand and guides me into the city to catch up with the other career tributes.

"Where did they go?" Wally asks with a look of confusion.

"I don't know but we need to find somewhere to sleep, who knows what kinds of creatures will be lurking in the night. The gamesmakers are sick people."

I then realized that Wally's hand was still interlocked with mine, and it made me blush; however, it goes away before the airhead, my airhead, could see it.

"Hey Dick."

"Yeah Walls."

"When we find a place to camp, can we….. ummmmm… cuddle?" Wally asked me, his cheeks almost as red as his hair.

"Wally, why would you ask me that on national television you sap?"

"Because I'm going to get scared, like you said the gamesmakers are sick people and I want to do big spoon little spoon with you."

Wally looked at me with his big green eyes that reminded me of a puppy dog. He was touching my arm in an attempt to persuade me to cuddle with him. And I couldn't lie to myself, it was working.

"Fine we can cuddle, but you're big spoon, West."

"I think I will be able to live with that, Grayson."

Wally and I dashed into the dark city, wondering though the streets trying to find a habitable place to rest before we journeyed farther away from the cornucopia. And that's the moment when the nation's anthem sounded. Panem's national symbol could clearly be seen in the center of the dome. I was placed in front of the artificial stars that gave the arena the effect of nighttime. Faces began to appear, and the deceased were passing with a final holographic tribute to their existence. I disregarded who was killed because I couldn't care less, they should have been stronger. But subconsciously, I knew I was only telling myself this to stay alive. Being weak in the games was one sure fire way to die.

"Only 7 were killed." I hear Wally mutter with surprise in his voice.

"That's not going to please Snow; he's out for blood and wants excitement."

No sooner had I said that did the voice of Scenea Crane boom on the intercom.

"Tributes, attention attention. Due to the total disregard for the rules of the games, past victors from each games will now be released into the arena. This are designed to promote action. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor.

His voice faded out of the speakers, I was hit with more questions than answers. But none that were more pressing than the statement on my mind. 'WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO!?'

"We are going to stick together and stay strong, we are a team and nothing can break us apart Dick."

"Did I say that outloud?"

Suddenly a femine, sexy voice sounded behind me.

"I could hear that from the cornucopia, you boys are need to practice your inside voices. Poor little baby here could get himself killed."

"Holy fuck, it's Selina-Fucking-Kyle."

The woman strutted down the road, walking like a supermodel down a runway. She wore a black jumpsuit that was unzipped just enough so that her perfect breasts were about to fall out, yet they stayed in place. She wore high heel boots that could be heard clonking on the concrete road. She swung her hips back and forth with a confidence that could put even Diana to shame. To say that this woman was sexy would be like saying that the sun is hot; a major understatement.

"Relax Dickie bird." She leaned down to whisper in my ear. "I have a thing with daddy dearest."

She licks my ear and sniggers, she was like a cat.

"Kitty's must like to play with their food before they kill it." I push her away but she gracefully recovers.

"This is true Dickie Bird, but killing you would mean losing Brucie. And he is catnip to a girl like me." She gave the same flirtatious laugh as last time.

"So you're here to help us?" Wally asked Selina.

"It's in my best interest to keep you cuttie pies alive. Besides, there are almost 100 people in the arena now. Someone has to keep your hormones under control." Laughing at her own joke, she struts over to Wally; pacing around him like a shark before it goes in for the kill. Selina was many things but none more than sexy, dangerous, and intelligent. A femme fetal combo.

"You landed a hot piece of ass, Grayson. He's a keeper, and just look at the size of his dick. You two are going to have amazing sex. With your ass and his dick, wow I can just picture it now."

My cheeks were inflamed with a scarlet shade. No one has ever humiliated me the way that she just did; this is not okay.

"She's got a point, Dick, your ass is amazing." Wally winks at me and walks over to me to pat me on the shoulder. It made me release some of the anger and humiliation that I was harboring.

"Come along boys, we have more of the city to see. Nighttime is when the creatures come out to play, and I love to play." She winked at us, and we began walking down the road with our newly found ally. Who could even fathom how Babs and Megan were doing, I hoped they were faring well.


End file.
